Chances Missed
by Synica
Summary: Konoha misses their chance to raise Naruto as the ultimate super weapon when Naruto is promised power and acknowledgment from Orochimaru at the age of four. Rated M for Tayuya's swearing fits. Eventual Naruto x Tayuya romance. Discontinued.
1. The Defection

**A/N:** I'm sorry to start a new fic like this, but I'm stuck with my others unless I do a **big** time skip, like a year or so to cut out the really boring bits no one wants to read. In the case of the Bijuu series, skip their year of training and shove them straight into the Chuunin Exams, or in the case of Living Behind a Mask, kind of allude to the training and meetings with other Nukenins and then get to the point where they're ready for Akatsuki… I'm still going on Rubies & Sapphires, but I'm getting an urge to write a new one. I really should stop reading fics for inspiration, because then I find a good rare pairing that's never completed and decide to do it the way I think it should work. The only regret is that I may have completed fics, but I've never once completed a story. If anyone has any ideas on what to do besides what I've mentioned above, I'd like to hear them.

Apart from that, this is going to be a Naruto x Tayuya fic, so naturally, that fact alone upgrades the rating of this fic to M. Also, to save space, I'm going to respond to all reviews via Review Reply. However, if a lot of people ask me a particular question, I'll answer it in the A/N of the next chapter to save saying the same thing again and again. I kind of think the title for this story is appropriate… Konoha had their chance to raise a super weapon, but they threw it away, hence Chances Missed. Also, I'm not entirely sure, but the fic Sounding in the Dark by A True Radical Dreamer seems to have somewhat of a minor… Plot error in it. In the first chapter, Kabuto 'saves' Naruto at a young age. I'm not sure what that age is, but if it's anywhere near 7 or below, he shouldn't have met with Ino/Sakura/Sasuke and the rest. The fact that he failed the academy finals 3 years in a row means he would have graduated 2 years before Team Gai if he had done it first try. Anyways, in my fic, he's leaving Konoha at the age of four, just as he's about to start at the academy.

I've got a Beta now, so please stop asking. Especially 3 times per person like some people...

Without further ado, I'll get on with it.

**Note:** Do I own Naruto? Let's see... '_checks through stacks of patents he owns'_ Plans for a universe destroying weapon, a towel that never gets wet, a remote control that freezes time... Nope, I don't own Naruto, unfortunately... Might have to change that... Could be profitable...

Legend:

_'...Human or Lesser Summon Thinking/Small A/N...'_

_**'...Demon or Summon Boss Thinking...'**_

"...Human or Lesser Summon Talking..."

"**...Demon or Summon Boss Talking..."**

"...SHOUTING/TWO OR MORE PEOPLE SAYING THE SAME THING/CASTING THE SAME JUTSU..."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Chances Missed:

Chapter One:

The Defection:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Konoha, 4 Years After the Kyuubi Attacked:**

Today was an unusual day in Konoha. It was officially a day of mourning, but it was also the birthday of one particularly unusual boy. The boy in question had been born on the evening of the Kyuubi attack and was the reason that humans still roamed the earth. However, people made an incorrect assumption due to their need of a scapegoat for the loss of their loved ones that the child was the demon reborn, and not the one who kept it at bay. The villagers took particular relish on beating this child on the 10th of October, his birthday. This year was no different. The child stumbled through the streets, cut and bleeding profusely from wounds made by broken bottles and other sharp implements. He looked over his shoulder to see the regular mob charging after him, drunken grins on their faces. Naruto stumbled down a side alley, his mind no longer able to work. Unfortunately the alley was a dead end. Naruto backed himself up against the wall as the mob blocked off the entrance with a smile of someone who knows for sure they have won a fight. The man in front stepped forward, gloating over his target.

"I think it's about time we finished what Yondaime started, eh boys?"

The drunks either cheered their approval or smirked. They moved in and began beating the child with a sick sense of pleasure gained from getting revenge on the thing closest to what caused them so much grief.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**On Top of That Building:**

A man with brown hair and black shades stared down at the scene. He was supposed to meet up with his team, but this was something you don't see every day. Akadou Yoroi glared at the men.

"What could they possibly have against a four year old child?"

Yoroi may not be the most… Caring person, but this went too far for even him. He was about to jump down there and disperse them when his team mates, Yakushi Kabuto and Tsurugi Misumi came up on either side of him.

"Yoroi, where the hell-"

They both noticed the scene below them and their eyes narrowed. Kabuto smiled and pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Shall we?"

They both nodded and jumped down with their leader. The drunks may not be ninja, but they didn't need training to know when the sun was suddenly blocked that meant something was overhead. They looked up to see three figures jumping down. Most of them got out of the way, but one of them wasn't quick enough and they landed on him. Yoroi activated his chakra drainer while Kabuto activated his dual chakra scalpels. Kabuto smiled sweetly at them.

"Mind explaining what you're doing attacking this child? Surely you don't need a mob this size to take care of a four year old child?"

The leader of the mob sneered.

"Do you even know what that thing is?"

Kabuto looked at the boy and then back at the man.

"Yes, I do actually. He's human. The fact that he can't use chakra to defend himself would also indicate that. Now, unless you want to be charged with attacking Shinobi of the village as well, I suggest you remove yourselves from the general vicinity before we decide to call for ANBU reinforcements."

The group mumbled but began to shuffle off. The second they began to disperse, Kabuto turned around to inspect the boy with a slight smile touching his lips.

'_Orochimaru-Sama may find a use for this boy…'_

Kabuto felt for a pulse. It was erratic, but it was present. He began healing the more major wounds and his eyes narrowed as the wounds began healing faster than they should.

'_Must be the demonic chakra… Interesting…'_

In the end, Kabuto only had to use half the chakra he thought he would and the boy looked weakly up at him. Kabuto smiled at him in his regular cheesy fashion.

"Are you alright?"

The boy nodded slightly. Naruto vaguely recognised two people stepping up beside him and a conversation began.

"Is the kid alright?"

Kabuto nodded.

"His wounds were healing twice as fast as they should have."

The other two nodded and looked at the kid. Kabuto took out a soldier pill and a blood replenishment pill and gave them to Naruto.

"Eat these. They're bitter, but they'll help a lot."

Naruto nodded and bit down on them. They were indeed bitter, but he swallowed them and was amazed to find strength returning to him instantly. He slowly sat up and looked at his three saviours.

"Why did you save me? All the villagers hate me…"

Kabuto smiled as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"We're not your... Average villagers."

Naruto nodded slowly and Kabuto sighed.

"You look like you haven't been fed in days…"

To illustrate his point, Naruto's stomach growled. Naruto blushed in embarrassment while Kabuto stood up and held a hand out to Naruto.

"How about we go get you something to eat? Want anything in particular?"

Naruto's eyes lit up at the mention of food.

"Ramen!"

Kabuto chuckled while the other two smirked. Kabuto looked at the other two.

"Can you go and tell Sensei I've got something to do and I'll be there soon?"

They both nodded and leapt up and out of the alleyway. Naruto looked at them in shock.

"How did they do that?"

Kabuto smiled as Naruto took his hand and followed him out of the alleyway towards the nearest Ramen Stand.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**5 Minutes Later:**

Kabuto spotted a rather run down Ramen Stand and decided it was good enough. He stepped inside and the man in his mid 40s behind the counter looked at them.

"Can I help you?"

Kabuto smiled mentally. No wonder he didn't have much business with that attitude.

"Could I get a bowl of Miso Pork Ramen please?"

The man nodded as Kabuto turned to Naruto.

"Which one would you like?"

Naruto looked dumbfounded for a second. No one had ever given him a choice in anything before.

"Ano… The same thing as you, please…"

The man nodded and started preparing the Ramen while Kabuto turned to Naruto. He secretly cast a small Genjutsu around them that made them look like they were chatting about various things to others to mask their true talk. Naruto, not having any skill in Genjutsu was none the wiser.

"Naruto, does anyone in this village even care for you?"

Naruto thought about it. Did anyone? Well, apart from that old man in the white robes, no.

"Well, there's that old man in the white robes with the funny hat…"

Kabuto sighed.

"The Sandaime Hokage. Are you sure he really cares about you? Or is he just doing it out of pity?"

The question struck Naruto. Why would he care but no one else? Kabuto sighed at the look on Naruto's face.

"Naruto, I doubt he actually feels anything for you. A Hokage is ideally supposed to 'love' every single person in a village. It almost seems like he's doing it because he has to…"

Naruto's eyes widened as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. Kabuto smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. Time to move in for the kill.

"I know a place where you would be accepted as normal, where you wouldn't be hunted for any reason and where you could have real friends your own age."

Naruto's eyes widened. That place was the place of his dreams. A place he thought couldn't possibly exist.

"It's full of kids who've lived just like you. They know what it's like, so they don't pick on each other."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Where?"

Kabuto smirked slightly. Hook, line and sinker.

"It's not too far from here, about 5 days walk, three days if we move fast."

Naruto's brain may be gullible, but he knew when something was up. At that point, the man served their Ramen and Kabuto warped the Genjutsu so that both of them thanked the man, which they actually did, but the Genjutsu would have prevented them from saying it.

"Naruto-Kun, ninja have to leave their villages from time to time, even if it's only for a few weeks to complete a mission. However, there are some of them who leave because they don't like the way their village treats them. The place I'm talking about is run by one of those people, and he was from Konoha too. Konoha has and will continue to produce a number of very powerful people who dislike the way the village is run."

Kabuto was of corse referring to people such as Orochimaru and the Uchiha Clan, whose situation was reaching boiling point. It wouldn't be long before the clan entered civil war and destroyed itself. Naruto looked up as he finished the last lot of noodles in the bowl and began drinking the soup.

"So these people were treated badly as well?"

Kabuto smiled and nodded.

"Yes. However, they were treated poorly for a reason different than you. Most of they were so powerful and smart that people began to fear them and eventually started accusing them of things they didn't do. The man I work for was one of the first to leave."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"So you're not from this village?"

Kabuto smiled and nodded.

"No, I'm what's called a spy. I was originally from this village, however, I left after something similar to what's happening to you happened to me. If it makes you feel better, Konoha has more spies in other countries than all of them combined."

Naruto's eyes widened as Kabuto continued explaining.

"Konoha isn't such a great place. It is if your average, but for people like us who aren't normal, it's the worst place we could possibly live. The place I'm talking about, everyone's unusual, so they won't think less of you."

Naruto's eyes widened. He'd made up his mind.

"I want to go there."

Kabuto smiled.

'_You had your chance to raise a weapon that no one could defeat, Konoha. You threw it aside like trash. You'll regret that.'_

Kabuto paid for their meal and stood up, dispelling the Genjutsu when the old man wasn't looking.

"Do you have any personal possessions, Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto shook his head. Everything he'd tried to keep, the kids or the workers of the orphanage had taken it away. Kabuto smiled.

"Let's get going then."

Naruto nodded and followed Kabuto towards the West Gate. Once they were almost there, Kabuto did a small area sleeping Genjutsu on the guards to put them to sleep. They walked out of gate and into the surrounding bush, heading almost directly north.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Four Days Later:**

Kabuto led a very weary Naruto up to a set of stairs that led underground in the middle of nowhere. Above the doorway, there was a pair of engraved snakes entwined around each other, both of them staring out at anyone who dared to enter. Kabuto led Naruto down the stairs and through the door, heading down a long spiral staircase lit only by candles. They arrived at a junction with three paths to choose from, however, Kabuto took none of them. He walked up to the left side of the wall and touched a nondescript part of the wall, which moved back under his touch. The section of the wall slid down into the floor and Kabuto motioned Naruto to follow him inside. Naruto looked at the other doors and then back at Kabuto.

"Kabuto-San, why didn't we take those doors?"

Kabuto smiled at Naruto.

"You'll find out some day."

Naruto nodded as Kabuto led him into an area that had people in it. Naruto had not seen another person since they left Konoha. Naruto tried to get closer to Kabuto. However, most people gave him a short glance of mild interest and then went about whatever they were doing. No one tried to attack him, and no one glared at him and no one called him names. Kabuto had been telling the truth. Kabuto turned to Naruto.

"The man you are about to meet has a short temper and is quick to lash out at people. It would be wise to address him as Orochimaru-Sama."

Naruto nodded as he was led through doorways to a room that was guarded by two Nins who wore what looked to be full face masks that only revealed their eyes. Both of them bowed slightly to Kabuto.

"Kabuto-San, Orochimaru-Sama was not expecting you back for quite some time…"

Kabuto smiled at the man and pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"I found someone he will definitely want to meet."

The man nodded and looked at Naruto before knocking on the door. Naruto heard a faint rasping voice from within.

"What?"

The man was obviously nervous as he spoke.

"Orochimaru-Sama, Kabuto-San is requesting audience."

Naruto could have sworn he heard a slight chuckle from inside.

"Come in."

The man nodded to Kabuto who pushed open the door and led Naruto into a very dark room lit by a single candle. Naruto saw there were jars filled with liquids and all descriptions of animals, most of them being snakes. However, the light from the candle caught something in the middle of the room which caught Naruto's attention. It was a man with pure white skin, long black hair and piercing golden eyes. The man smiled at Kabuto.

"Kabuto, what is the meaning of this?"

Kabuto smiled at Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru-Sama, I came back with something that I believe would benefit you greatly."

Orochimaru looked at Naruto and his eyes widened in recognition before he smiled sinisterly.

"Ah, if it isn't Naruto-Kun… Tell me, Naruto-Kun, what did you hope to gain by coming here?"

Naruto gulped. He could tell that there was a lot riding on this question.

"Ano… I want to be accepted and get strong… Orochimaru-Sama…"

Orochimaru smirked.

"Couldn't you get that back in Konoha?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed for a second as he remembered all of the memories of the beatings before he regained his senses. Orochimaru smiled. Kabuto had indeed brought him a powerful weapon.

"No, Orochimaru-Sama… They beat me up and called me names…"

Orochimaru beckoned Naruto to come over to him, which he did with uncertainty.

"If you serve me, I can give you power beyond your imagination. If you serve me well, I will recognise you. What is your answer?"

Naruto's eyes lit up at the prospect. Hell, he'd practically be willing to dance naked in public for recognition and power. All he had to do was serve this man and not fail him? This was too good to be true.

"I'll do it, Orochimaru-Sama…"

Orochimaru smiled and chuckled darkly. He turned to Kabuto.

"Kabuto, get Naruto-Kun some decent clothes and introduce him to the others."

Kabuto nodded.

"Hai, Orochimaru-Sama."

Naruto bowed deeply to Orochimaru and then left to follow Kabuto. A figure stepped out of the darkness behind Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru-Sama… I sensed a great evil coming from that boy…"

Orochimaru smiled darkly.

"He does contain a great evil, Kimimaro. He is the most powerful Jinchuriki, the container for the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

The boy behind him eyes' widened dramatically. Orochimaru smiled.

"However, Akatsuki will eventually find out about him… It will be troublesome when they do…"

Kimimaro nodded and stepped back into the shadows, leaving his master to ponder about what to do with this boy.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**5 Minutes Later:**

Kabuto led Naruto to a small room and opened the door. Inside were stacks and stacks of clothes, towels, sheets and other types of cloth goods. Kabuto walked up to a particular one and picked off the one on top. It was a mainly white cloth robe that had a Yin and Yang symbol on the front. Kabuto handed it to Naruto. It looked incredibly corny, but if this is what he needed to wear to get recognition and power, it was a small price to pay. Kabuto looked at Naruto as he handed him a towel.

"Don't put it on yet. You need to get cleaned up."

Naruto looked at himself. He'd have to admit, he did look pretty dirty.

Kabuto led Naruto out of the room and down what to him seemed like endless dark corridors before stopping outside a room. Kabuto opened it to reveal an empty room with a bed, a chest of draws, a bedside table and a small writing table. Kabuto looked at Naruto.

"This will be your room. You will have to stay here unless you are required to be somewhere else. I'll let the others explain the rules to you."

Naruto nodded slowly as Kabuto closed the door. Kabuto smiled at the worried look on Naruto's face.

"The other four live right next to you. They know the way, so just ask them."

Naruto looked at Kabuto questioningly as they walked down the barely lit hall.

"Other four?"

Kabuto nodded and smiled as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"There are four other people your age which Orochimaru-Sama has special plans for."

Naruto nodded. Special plans sounded promising. Kabuto led Naruto to a pair of doors that had a stick figure of a male on one and a female on the other. Kabuto indicated to the male room.

"Go inside and get cleaned up. Once you finish, put your new clothes on. I'll wait here for you."

Naruto nodded and pushed open the door to reveal a completely white room that had part of one wall covered in a urinal, about 6 stalls for toilets, a row of basins and then at the back was a block. Naruto went up to the back wall and dumped his stuff on a bench. Looking inside the block, he saw what appeared to be individual stalls. He went inside and opened one to reveal a shower. He shrugged and stripped before dumping his rather tatty clothes back with his other stuff. He took his towel and went into a shower stall, turning the taps on until he found the right temperature. It was kind of hard to turn the taps properly, due to his rather short stature. However, he eventually achieved it and washed himself with the bar of soap and the small bottle of shampoo there. He had a 3 minute shower, scared that if he took any longer, Kabuto would get angry with him. Once he had finished, he turned off the water and took his towel from the door handle and began drying himself. Naruto walked out of the stall and put his new robes on. Naruto took his old clothes with him and his towel and exited the room. Kabuto smiled at him.

"That was rather quick, Naruto-Kun. Are you sure you were able to wash yourself properly?"

Naruto stared at Kabuto in blank incomprehension. He thought he didn't have a long enough shower? Back at the orphanage, he was lucky to get a 1 minute shower… Kabuto sighed and pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Naruto-Kun, we do things very differently here. Everyone was shunned by their villages, so we understand what it's like. Some are the last of their clans, some of them never had a family, and some families kicked them out a young age. We've all lived hard lives."

Naruto nodded slowly. Kabuto pushed himself off the wall and motioned Naruto to follow him. Kabuto led Naruto down a few more corridors before he opened what to Naruto seemed like a random door. When the door opened, Naruto saw that the room had children his own age in it. However, some of the children were not exactly… Normal. There were four children in this room. One was a hulking boy for his age; another had two heads while another had six arms. Kabuto walked over to the man who was obviously in charge and exchanged a few quick words with him. The man nodded several times and then looked at Naruto.

"I understand."

Kabuto pushed his glasses back up his nose and smiled.

"I'll leave him with you then."

The man nodded and Kabuto turned back to Naruto.

"Naruto-Kun, you will be training here for the next few years. If you need anything, just ask that man there."

Naruto nodded and Kabuto left the room. The man in charge looked at Naruto.

"Ok, I need to know why Orochimaru-Sama has upgraded you straight to the elite class. What can you do?"

Naruto thought about it. What could he do? The instructor raised an eyebrow.

"He wouldn't have upgraded you here for no reason."

Naruto thought back to the past.

"Well… Whenever I get hurt, it heals really quickly by itself…"

The man's eyes narrowed as did the others in the room. The man looked at Naruto, or more specifically, his cheeks.

"When was your birthday?"

Naruto's head lowered.

"October 10th…"

The man's eyes widened.

"I see. No wonder he sent you here."

The red head in the class called out to him.

"He looks like an ordinary kid. What's his birthday got to do with anything?"

The man looked up at the red head.

"He's a Jinchuriki, or more correctly, the most powerful one."

The other four's eyes widened before they smiled. The one with six arms came up to him and extended a hand.

"I've always wanted to meet a Jinchuriki. I'm Kidoumaru."

Naruto gingerly took his hand and shook it.

"Naruto… What's a Jinchuriki?"

Everyone in the room face faulted. The red head recovered first and went into a verbal lashing.

"What the hell do you mean, 'what's a Jinchuriki'? You've lived for how long and you don't know what you are? You're a complete idiot."

Naruto shrunk back while Kidoumaru smirked.

"Don't mind Tayuya. She swears a lot."

Naruto looked up at the red head in disbelief.

"That's a girl? I thought it was a guy…"

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees before Tayuya launched herself at Naruto.

"What did you say, you piece of shit? I'm going to break your god damn neck for that!"

Tayuya bowled Naruto over, whose arms shot out for the nearest things to stabilise himself. Unfortunately, that happened to be Tayuya's robes and she went tumbling to the ground with him. When they stopped, the others in the room smirked at their position. Tayuya was practically straddling Naruto who looked up at her in fear. The boy with two heads spoke for the others.

"He's only just walked in and you're already getting intimate with him, Tayuya?"

The others laughed as Tayuya and Naruto blushed. Tayuya quickly jumped off Naruto and stared at Sakon.

"What did you say, you two headed freak?"

Sakon laughed as Tayuya rushed him and they both engaged in a scuffle, Tayuya swearing enough to make even the instructor cringe. Naruto got back up and looked at them.

'_I suppose I could get used to this…'_

The others introduced themselves quick enough. Tayuya was the only one who was still cold to him, but them again, she seemed cold to everyone. The instructor got them back into form quickly and continued the lecture on whatever it was he was talking about. Naruto vaguely understood it had something to do with 'Genjutsu', whatever that was. Beyond that, he had no clue. By the middle of the day, he dismissed them and walked out. The others grabbed the few things they had and left. The larger boy looked at Naruto.

"You coming? We're getting something to eat."

"You don't need anything to eat, fatass."

Jiroubou looked at Tayuya in an annoyed fashion.

"Tayuya, women shouldn't talk like that…"

Tayuya ignored it and kept walking as Naruto pulled up besides Jiroubou.

"Why does she swear so much?"

Jiroubou sighed.

"Apparently, she's had a really hard past. More than the three of us. She just swears to cover her weaknesses-"

Jiroubou didn't get to finish the sentence as something stuck him in the head. Tayuya stared at him.

"I do not, fatass."

Sakon smirked.

"Then why do you swear, eh?"

Tayuya stared at Sakon.

"What's it to you, piece of shit?"

Sakon smirked and continued walking. Naruto walked up to Tayuya and looked at the ground.

"Um… Sorry about before…"

Tayuya raised an eyebrow.

"What's with you? I thought being a demon container would give you some balls."

Naruto visibly flinched at the mention of the word demon, which was noticed by the other three. Kidoumaru looked at Tayuya.

"That was insensitive, even for you. I'd be willing to bet he had a worse life than you did."

Tayuya stared at Kidoumaru and then back at Naruto. Her stare softened a bit before she mumbled something and turned around to head to the cafeteria. The other three watched her retreating back. Jiroubou looked the most shocked.

"Wow, I think that's the first time she ever apologised…"

The other two nodded in agreement. Naruto looked up, his eyes devoid of emotion. All three of them noticed it and shrugged. Kidoumaru put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"You'll get used to that. Anyway, let's get something to eat…"

Naruto nodded and followed them down several corridors to a set of doors that people seemed to be constantly going in and out of. They pushed open the doors to reveal the cafeteria. There were people of all ages sitting at long benches eating food from trays. Naruto followed the three boys to find Tayuya swearing at the chef serving her food. Naruto and the other three lined up and eventually they were given a tray each. On it was some sort of soup, some pastries and some vegetables. They moved to the table Tayuya had sat at and began eating. No one said anything as they ate. After they had finished, they stood up and dumped their trays in the stack with the others, leaving to go for their afternoon lesson, according to the others. Naruto quickened his pace to walk beside Sakon. Sakon looked at him in slight interest.

"Ano… I have no idea what they're talking about in class…"

Sakon, Tayuya, Jiroubou and Kidoumaru sweat dropped. Tayuya spun around and glared at Naruto.

"Do you have any training at all?"

Naruto shook his head.

"The old man was about to put me into first year academy when Kabuto-San brought me here…"

Jiroubou looked at Naruto quizzically.

"Old man?"

Naruto looked at him as he explained.

"People called him Hokage-Sama…"

The others scoffed. Naruto looked at them.

"What's wrong?"

Sakon smiled with a glint in his eye.

"Orochimaru-Sama was the 'old man's' student, apparently. Just some advice, but don't talk about him in front of others… Orochimaru-Sama doesn't exactly like him…"

Tayuya smirked.

"No kidding."

Kidoumaru sighed as he pulled out a book and handed it to Naruto, which he took.

"Read that. Most of us only just started lessons here, but we've known each other for about half a year. At the start, all of us were given that. It'll teach you the basics on chakra and chakra control."

Naruto nodded and pocketed the book. Out of the four here, Jiroubou and Kidoumaru seemed to be the friendliest of the four. Sakon seemed to try and exert dominance over the group while Tayuya seemed to lash out at others at the first sign of an argument. It was an odd group, but Naruto could get used to it. Hell, they didn't beat the crap out of him for being a demon container, whatever that was, so it was a start. They entered the classroom to find another instructor there and they began their lesson.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**3 Weeks Later:**

Naruto had opened the book the moment he got back to his room. After some slight trouble with some jargon like 'mental energy' and 'chakra pathways', the book was actually fairly easy to understand. Naruto had never been allowed into the library, let alone borrow a book, so he absorbed the information hungrily. By the end of the first week with the others, he was able to understand some lessons. The others looked shocked at this. Most of them had taken a month or so to get to the level they were at now, while Naruto was able to understand about half of the lessons in a week. Naruto's submissive attitude soon turned to one of friendliness and trust in the others. The others had immediately taken to Naruto. Tayuya was still rather brash, but like Kidoumaru had said, he'd gotten used to it. They soon found he was an excellent sparing partner as he tended to be able to make up strategies that shouldn't work but did on the spot. Naruto's tactics tended more towards fooling the opponent and giving them a few fast, powerful strikes when they weren't expecting it. By the end of the third week, Naruto had practically caught up to the others. It was on the third week that a Jounin interrupted their class and had a few quick words with the instructor. He nodded and looked up at Jiroubou.

"Jiroubou, Orochimaru-Sama requests your presence."

Jiroubou nodded and got up. The others thought nothing of it as Jiroubou left with the man who had interrupted and the other four continued their studies. By the end of the lesson, Jiroubou had not come back, so the others were getting worried.

"What is that fat piece of shit doing?"

Naruto shrugged.

"Who knows?"

They walked past Jiroubou's room when they felt a rather evil spike of chakra coming from within. They opened the door to see Jiroubou lying on his bed, sweating and hyperventilating. What was most worrying though was the aura of purple chakra exploding off him. Jiroubou slowly got up and the others looked at him in shock. His face and arms were covered in lines of black triangles he looked at them with a grin on his face.

"Don't worry guys, I'm fine. Better yet…"

Jiroubou cracked his knuckles and playfully punched the wall, making it buckle and shatter under his palm.

"I feel great."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Jiroubou… What happened to you?"

Jiroubou looked at Naruto.

"Orochimaru-Sama gave me a rather interesting gift. I'm not sure how it works, but it takes my chakra and multiplies it 10 fold…"

The lines on Jiroubou's body flashed red/orange and retreated back to what appeared to be three triangles on the base of his neck. Jiroubou wobbled unsteadily before falling back on his bed. Tayuya smirked.

"What kind of a gift makes you that tired after a burst of chakra like that, fatass?"

Jiroubou clearly didn't have the energy to correct his female companion on her choice of words as he just lay there, panting. Naruto smiled.

"At least you're ok. Get some rest, we'll see you tomorrow."

Jiroubou sighed and looked at the ceiling.

"Sure…"

They closed the door to his room and left for their own. All of them were happy that Jiroubou was ok, even if they didn't show it. Naruto walked beside Tayuya. Their rooms were the closest to the end. Naruto smiled at Tayuya.

"I know you care about Jiroubou too-"

That earnt him a whack over the head with a book.

"Shut it, fox boy."

Naruto smiled as Tayuya opened the door to her room and stepped inside. Although most people would think she was just a foul mouthed girl who hated everyone, Naruto had quickly learnt that she had adopted a version of the 'kill before you're killed' attitude. Naruto had once seen what was under her strange headpiece when Kidoumaru had made a ball out of the golden substance he could produce from his body and lobbed it at her from behind, knocking it off. She had what appeared to be a bunch of small horns that were barely visible in her fiery red hair. She had obviously been tormented about them as a child, most likely being called 'demon' and the like. It seemed she had adopted the motto she had now and enjoyed hurting regular people who decided to gang up on her. She also seemed to have a surprising knack for Genjutsu even as a child, managing to make the mobs clutch their heads in agony with a simple whistle. However, those she cared about she gave a single nickname and never used her Genjutsu on. Jiroubou was always referred to a 'fatass', Sakon as 'two headed freak', Kidoumaru as 'octopus' and Naruto as 'fox boy'. Naruto went into his own room and stripped down before getting a change of boxer shorts and getting into bed. Tayuya wasn't that bad a person. In fact he thought more of girls who didn't spend their time mooning over a single guy like some of the few female ninjas here did instead of doing what they were supposed to do. With that thought, Naruto rolled over and drifted off to sleep.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A Year Later:**

Over the course of the next year, their lessons had steered towards barriers and Fuuinjutsu. All of them picked it up readily, but Naruto lapped it up. Out of all of them, he seemed to have more potential for Fuuinjutsu than any of them. At various times through out the year, they were called one by one to see Orochimaru. The next day, each of them was found in their rooms with some form of 'gift' from Orochimaru. Near the end of Naruto's first year at the Sound, he was the only one who still hadn't been called. In a way, he felt despondent. The others had said that Orochimaru had bitten them and the pain had been horrible, but that only lasted until they fell unconscious. When they woke up, they felt great. At the end of the first year, Naruto was finally called. He was both excited and worried at the same time. When he was brought before Orochimaru, he found out why.

"Naruto-Kun, finding a seal that would work best for you was extremely… Troublesome… But I believe I have one that would suit you perfectly."

Naruto nodded, ready for anything, or so he thought. Orochimaru let of an aura of killing intent that paralysed Naruto while Orochimaru formed a Hebi seal and his neck extended, snaking its way towards Naruto and bit down on the base of his neck. Pain flooded through Naruto's body as he felt an injection of some form of fluid and his vision blanked out in pain. He fell to his knees, grasping his neck, trying desperately not to cry out in pain. His neck burnt like it was literally on fire. Naruto was not able to see, but around his navel, three black commas that looked like flames were appearing on his skin in much the same way as ink would appear on a sheet of paper if the other side was saturated in it. Naruto fell to the floor, still gritting his teeth from the pain. He was reaching his limits as he rolled around several times and then curled up into a foetal position and passed out from the pain. Orochimaru's eyebrows rose.

"My my, what a strong will… He didn't cry out in pain once… The effects of the Demon Seal will be interesting indeed…"

Orochimaru snapped his fingers and an Oto Jounin came in, seeing the boy on the floor, he nodded and bowed before picking him up and taking him to the medical facility for inspection by Kabuto.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Day:**

The other four were walking back from their class when they felt a massive spike of chakra coming from somewhere near their rooms. They ran around the corner just in time to see the door to Naruto's room fly off its hinges and an explosion of jet black chakra fly out of it. The others shrank back as the chakra washed over them. It died down slightly and they looked to see a clawed hand with lines of black flames along it grip the doorframe. The owner of the hand revealed themselves and they saw Naruto. Or what could have been Naruto. His eyes were now blood red and slitted. He also had fangs and his whisker marks had elongated. His hair was now unruly. Naruto grinned in an extremely feral manner at them.

"**Hey guys."**

They raised an eyebrow at Naruto's voice. It held an extremely guttural sound to it, much like a beast would have if it could talk. Naruto opened and closed his hand before he smiled and threw a punch up the hall. Chakra exploded off his hand and rocketed down the hall, creating a miniature gale. Naruto grinned.

"**This is great… I've never had so much… POWER!"**

Naruto did another wind powered punch and then disappeared, reappearing behind them, much to the shock of the four.

"**Or speed."**

The others had only been able to keep their cursed seals active for about a minute at most once they had gotten used to it, however, Naruto had surpassed the time that the other four had when they first woke up. Naruto had more speed than Sakon and more power than Jiroubou. Apart from the obvious patterns of the seals, they had no other changes to their physical appearances. Orochimaru took that time to walk around the corner. He chuckled as he surveyed the damage.

"My my, I didn't expect the effects of the Demon Seal on the Kyuubi's chakra to be this… Apparent…"

Orochimaru looked at the door that Naruto had blown off his hinges to indicate his point. Naruto's body, being as young as it was, was unable to use more of the Kyuubi's converted chakra without seriously damaging itself. As such, the black chakra died down and the black flame tattoos across his body retreated back to his stomach. Naruto fell unceremoniously onto his rear end and looked somewhat surprised. Jiroubou and Kidoumaru checked up on Naruto to see that he was fine. Orochimaru walked up to Naruto and smiled.

"How was it, Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto smiled widely.

"It was great Orochimaru-Sama! I don't remember much of it, but I do remember feeling really powerful!"

Orochimaru snickered.

"Is that so?"

Orochimaru turned to all five of them.

"I have high expectations for the five of you. Don't let me down."

The five of them nodded.

"Hai, Orochimaru-Sama."

Orochimaru smirked and turned to leave the five of them standing there in awe of what had just transpired.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** Yay! Chapter one done. I really should get back to my other fics…. Thanks to the people who've given me ideas. Some of them are quite good. Now it's just a matter of picking the best parts out of all of them and combining them. Yes, I realise that this fic started out very much like sounding in the dark, however, there are few believable ways that Naruto can defect to the sound at the age of four that don't involve Kabuto. Some pairings in Naruto have to start from one of several places. Such as I explained with my Rubies & Sapphires story, the only way to get a story started like that is have Naruto meet Kurenai at a young age or have him join team eight at graduation. A Naruto x Tayuya fic is the same. Have him defect at a young age or rescue Tayuya after the Sasuke retrieval arc. Both have limited ways of dealing with the initial meeting, but once that's over, I can go 'all original' from there.

Ja na,

Specula.


	2. Graduation & the First Stage Two Seal

**A/N:** Sorry guys, but this is going to be a really long A/N because I haven't updated in a while for very serious reasons. Apologies, but there are a few things I want to cover. Apologies also to those who asked me to translate stuff and I didn't. The only downside to this 'uber' translator of mine is that it regularly dies on me for about a week at a time. The translator is now back up and I will translate the things you asked me for now. As a hint from now on, please give me the context of each word you want translated. Unlike with English, Japanese uses different variations of the word in different contexts.

**Rather Important Note:** I've created a topic on the NarutoFan forums devoted to my fics. It's not so much a plug as just a way of informing you guys if something like this happens again or just a topic to generally chat with you guys. Anyways, reading the first post of the topic will make sense about exactly what it's for. The link to the topic is in my profile under the links section.

I'm disturbed about something… I've always known that the majority of Fan Fiction consists of Yaoi in some form or another. I decided to brush the surface just to see how much of it really was. Out of 1523 pages of fics in the Naruto section, 83 of those alone are fics with the main pairing of NaruxSasu under the romance filter. 19 are an 'Uchihacest' or SasuxItac. 10 or so of them were an Orochimaru x another male pairing. 6 were a NaruxGaar. 4 were NaruxNeji. Are you getting the point? It's disgusting, not to mention that even a large portion of 'het' fics practically or implicitly imply that Orochimaru used Sasuke as a play toy or some other Yaoi pairing as a minor one. I really don't want to go through the rest of the Yaoi pairings just to prove the point. Even NaruxHina only has 29 pages of romance fics… I can take a guess that the 'Yaoi' pairing stories are in the 'minority', but a large portion of the 'het' fics will allude to Yaoi or Yuri at some point, and leave a small portion of true het fics. Not that I have anything against Homosexuals, but like I said before, I have an extreme problem with the majority of males from all sources of fiction being implied as gay when there is zero probability it would happen in canon.

I just thought of something else. Since Naruto is now with the Sound, a hell of a lot of things are going to change. Inari is always going to be a drama queen, Gaara will always be a psychotic maniac, the majority of your favourite characters will die, the Suna/Oto invasion will be reduced to the Oto invasion because they have their own Jinchuriki, only Jiroubou would have lost his battle with one of the Konoha Nins and Konoha would be far more messed up than it was in canon after the invasion. Tsunade would never have become Hokage and Orochimaru would have had his hands healed. In short, this story is going to be **very** different from canon. Oto is going to rule the world all because of Naruto and unless I have Naruto defect back to Konoha now, there's nothing I can do about it.

I'm also aware that you don't think they could say those kinds of thing at four years old. However, how many of you could claim to use the kind of intelligence they had at 12 when you were even 17? I doubt any of you could, so it's not stretching the imagination that far at all. Kids at my school were making jokes involving toilet humour and implied smut from the day they entered preschool, so 4 really isn't pushing it. Even if you still don't believe it, the fact they have to see Orochimaru's sadistic killing methods means that people have to survive in their own way. Anko responded in a very pradictable way. Sure, it took a while for that personality to emerge, but only in her last days with Orochimaru did she see exactly what he was doing behind the scenes.

I've know Naruto is going downhill for quite a while now. Now, I have proof positive. What is it? They're recycling characters. In the latest Anime filler, the old carpenter/shinobi's land lady was Sasuke's aunt. Yes, right down to her voice. They even replaced the opening and closing themes with cuts from the third movie, and although I only got a brief second to look, one of the enemy shinobi is that fat Snow Nin from the first movie. Same eyes, same body weight. Don't know about his voice though as it was a 'silent' clip with the normal opening/ending themese played over the top of them.

**Disclaimer:** I am so not going to say what I said last chapter here again…

Legend:

_'...Human or Lesser Summon Thinking/Small A/N...' _

**_'...Demon or Summon Boss Thinking...' _**

"...Human or Lesser Summon Talking..."

**"...Demon or Summon Boss Talking..." **

"...SHOUTING/TWO OR MORE PEOPLE SAYING THE SAME THING/CASTING THE SAME JUTSU..."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

Chances Missed:

Chapter Two:

Graduation and the First Stage Two Seal:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**At the End of the Month:**

At the end of that month, they were given a practical assessment by several instructors. The first test was a Taijutsu test. Each of the five had to land a single hit on a Jounin while he was attacking them. Cursed Seals were allowed. The instructor looked up at Jiroubou.

"You're first, Jiroubou."

Jiroubou got up and stepped in front of the others, taking his stance. The Jounin told him to go when ready. Jiroubou charged forward and the Jounin disappeared, reappearing behind him and giving him a palm to the back of the head before reappearing behind him once he'd turned around to see what had hit him. Jiroubou wasn't exactly the fastest one of the group, as he relied on power more than anything. Jiroubou sighed and activated his cursed seal, gaining slightly more speed and a lot more power. Jiroubou punched the ground in front of him and sent chakra through the ground towards the Jounin that resulted in a wall of spikes heading directly for him. He jumped out of the way as the earthen spikes impaled the air he was in less than a second ago, only to find Jiroubou next to him. The man was shocked and unable to react due to the fact he was still in midair when Jiroubou gave him a punch to the gut, making the Jounin double over. Jiroubou's seal returned to normal and the Jounin coughed as he tried to regain his breath. He nodded at Jiroubou.

"That's fine."

Jiroubou nodded and walked back to the others. The Jounin shook his head in disbelief. If a kid that age could land a punch like that with only the first level, he'd hate to see him when he released level two. He straightened and motioned them forward, one by one. Each of them noticed that the Jounin was going hard on them until they released their seals, at which point he seemed to slacken slightly. Almost as if the aim of this assessment was not to test their abilities, but their seals. After they passed their Taijutsu test, they were subjected to a Nin and Genjutsu test. After they finished the last one, the Jounin nodded and handed them a purple rope sash each. They looked at it with disdain. They'd seen Orochimaru wearing one, as well as that white haired freak called Kimimaro, but all of them agreed it looked incredibly tacky. Tayuya looked at the Jounin.

"What the hell is this?"

The Jounin sweat dropped.

"It's a sash-"

"I know that you piece of shit, but the hell you're going to see me wearing this."

They heard a chucking at the door and turned to see Orochimaru standing in the doorway, cast in shadow. He walked in; smiling at them as he held his hands out in front like a mother would to her children when she diffused a situation.

"Don't say that, Tayuya-Chan. It's a sign that you're one of Otos' elite."

Tayuya huffed and Naruto looked at Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru-Sama, couldn't we wear something less… Boring?"

The others smirked, excluding the Jounin who sweat dropped while Orochimaru chuckled.

"My my, that was rather blunt, Naruto-Kun… I had planned on giving you each something special when I came, but it seems that you don't want-"

Orochimaru didn't get to finish his sentence as the others sweat dropped. Naruto had put the sash on three quarters of the way through the sentence and was looking eagerly at Orochimaru. Tayuya whacked him over the head with her Genjutsu flute she had acquired recently.

"You're an idiot."

Naruto smiled at her while the others followed suit and put their sashes on, much to Orochimaru's pleasure. He turned back around, smiling widely.

"Seems you do want to be one of Oto's elites after all. Very well, come with me. I will allow you access to my library of Jutsus. You may choose two each."

They followed Orochimaru eagerly towards a very well protected room that contained the library of jutsu scrolls. Orochimaru smiled at them.

"The last room is off limits. However, you may choose from the rest."

The children smiled widely as they looked at the rows and rows of scrolls. There had to be thousands of Jutsus here. Most of them went straight passed the lower level jutsus and straight to the A and S ranked jutsus. Orochimaru smiled.

_'So predictable…'_

Naruto stopped at the rack of Kinjutsu and browsed the contents. Tayuya called out to them.

"Hey, Octopus. I think there's one here that would suit you."

Kidoumaru looked up from the rows of scrolls he was looking at and copped the scroll in the face. Naruto smirked as Kidoumaru looked at the scroll and his eyes lit up.

"Spider Summons?"

Kidoumaru smiled. Tayuya was right. This did suit him. He pocketed the scroll and went looking for his last one. The others went back to searching for theirs. Naruto saw one of interest. He opened it, read the description and smiled. He took it and walked over to Tayuya.

"Hey, Tayuya, this one would suit you."

Tayuya looked at the scroll and then booted Naruto into a rack of scrolls.

"What the hell do you mean, 'this would suit me'? Idiot!"

Naruto got up clutching his head.

"Read it."

Tayuya opened the scroll and began smiling. It was a demon summoning contract that required sound to control the demons. Naruto looked on the ground to see a rather interesting scroll. Bending down, he picked it up.

"Rasengan?"

The others looked at him as he opened the scroll and began reading it. A swirling mass of chakra capable of blowing someone through several walls and ripping their abdomen to pieces as well? He was definitely going to take this one. By the end, everyone had two jutsus except Naruto, who still had one. There wasn't anything he thought would actually suit him. The others were looking at him in an annoyed fashion.

"Oi, fox boy, what the hell's taking so long?"

"I can't find another good one…"

The five of them standing at the door sweat dropped. Out of the 4000 or so Jutsus here, he couldn't find two 'good ones'? Orochimaru smiled as he stepped inside, thinking up a rather devious idea.

"Naruto-Kun, I may have a special one that you might like…"

Naruto followed Orochimaru to the back section and opened the door. Inside were jutsus like 'Edo Tensei' 'Cursed Seal' and other highly forbidden jutsus. Orochimaru stopped in front of one and pulled it off the rack.

"Hiraishin no Jutsu?"

Orochimaru smiled.

"Indeed. It was a jutsu exclusive to Yondaime; however, I managed to… Borrow the scroll and one of the implements used to perform it."

It wouldn't be too hard to explain having the Yellow Flash reborn. He had performed experiments with Shodaime's cells that he had gained through Edo Tensei in an attempt to clone him. He'd recently heard of a Tokubetsu Jounin in Konoha who could use Mokuton Jutsus. Orochimaru had a suspicion that one of his many subjects survived while the others died from their own DNA rejecting the foreign DNA of the Shodaime. Naruto took the scroll and the three tipped kunai. Naruto smiled at his Sensei and leader.

"Thanks, Orochimaru-Sama!"

Orochimaru smiled at Naruto.

"No problems, Naruto-Kun."

Orochimaru led Naruto out of the room and resealed the door behind them. He began thinking over the implications of giving Naruto these two Jutsus. If he played his cards right, he may be able to get the entire populace of Konoha to bend to his will simply by getting Naruto a slight change in clothing and speak a few choice words to them. Oh yes, life was indeed good. He chuckled at the thoughts, restraining from full blown maniacal laughter as they walked out of the jutsu room. Orochimaru turned and smiled at them.

"From now on, you five will be my personal body guards. I have rather large plans for all of you, especially you, Naruto-Kun."

Everyone looked at Naruto who raised both eyebrows in shock.

"Me, Orochimaru-Sama?"

Orochimaru smiled as the thoughts of exactly what Naruto was going to be doing to the populace of Konoha in just over half a decade's time.

"Yes, Naruto-Kun. You will see what I have in mind for you soon enough."

Naruto nodded.

"Hai, Orochimaru-Sama."

However, 'soon enough' was open to interpretation. Soon enough for someone who could technically live forever may be in the next decade, while soon enough for someone who might not live to be twenty could mean in the next few days, it was all based on personal opinion and experience. Orochimaru broke out of his musings and looked at his newly assembled Sound Five.

"However, now that you are my personal body guards, you will not be training in regular Nin, Gen, Tai or even Kinjutsu. You will be training mainly in Fuuinjutsu and variations of Fuuinjutsu."

They nodded, eager to learn. Orochimaru smiled at this eagerness.

_'Such trusting pawns…'_

In the end, all that mattered was that they were nothing but human shields in all senses of the word. Completely willing human shields.

"Most of the time, you will be training directly underneath me. The jutsus you have chosen will require more chakra than even you can use in your current states with the seals active."

They nodded and listened, taking in every word of their leader and in some cases, idol. Jiroubou spoke up, voicing the thoughts on all of their minds.

"Orochimaru-Sama, if we can't use them with our cursed seals active, how will we get enough chakra to ever use them?"

Orochimaru smiled as he chuckled lightly.

"Perhaps you should have chosen some easier jutsus… But there may be a way…"

Orochimaru let the possibility hang in the air. The children were taking it hook line and sinker.

"How, Orochimaru-Sama?"

Orochimaru smiled. Now to make sure that it was a physical impossibility for them to betray him even if they wanted to.

"The cursed seal has a second stage."

Naruto gave Orochimaru a blank look.

"Second stage?"

Orochimaru's smile widened. This was easier than taking candy from a baby.

"A second stage that grants you far more power than the first, power that will let you use those jutsus as long as the second stage is active."

"How do we get this second stage, Orochimaru-Sama?"

He turned to Sakon who had asked the question. He had a feeling that the question would have come from him, considering he was always trying to prove he was the strongest of the five.

"Sakon-Kun, if you use the first stage of the seal enough, it will eventually awaken. There is a much quicker method, however, you will not survive it until your friends have become able to use Fuuinjutsu well."

"What do our friends have to do with it?"

Orochimaru glanced casually at Tayuya.

"This method will require you to commit suicide."

That got their attention as Orochimaru pulled out a small glass bottle filled with black pills, shaking it much like a test tube in front of them. Needless to say, none of them were in any hurry to kill themselves if their facial expressions were anything to go by. Orochimaru put the bottle away when Naruto called out.

"Wait."

Everyone looked at him in shock. Naruto had a calculated expression on his face. He thought about the options. He'd survived a particularly nasty brawl with an Oto Jounin who had broken his back by lodging a kunai into his upper spine after a rather… Intense argument that resulted in the man becoming a live sacrifice to Manda. Within several days, Naruto had fully recovered. According to Orochimaru, the Kyuubi had healed him, saying that he may even be able to possibly regenerate lost limbs in the most extreme circumstances. Orochimaru smiled at Naruto.

"Is there something you want, Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto looked at his leader and role model in pure determination.

"How does the pill 'kill' you?"

Orochimaru smiled as he pulled the bottle back out.

"Much like a deadly poison would. It will destroy your body's cells."

Naruto smiled. Destroyed cells were nothing. If a kunai through the chest could heal in a matter of seconds once it was removed, this should be nothing to worry about.

"I'll take the pill."

The other four practically died from shock. Tayuya punched him over the head several times.

"You complete idiot! You heard what Orochimaru-Sama said! You take it you die! What the hell are you thinking?"

Naruto smiled as he got up, no fear or uncertainty in his voice.

"I can regenerate damage to my body quickly. You've seen what happens."

All of them tried to take turns convincing him to stop, but he didn't pay any attention. He was going on the fact that Kyuubi would heal him. He didn't doubt it would be draining for even the Kyuubi, but it was worth a shot. Orochimaru smiled as he walked up to him, popping the lid off the bottle.

"Are you sure about this, Naruto-Kun? Even as a Jinchuriki, you may not survive."

Naruto shook his head.

"I don't care. I'll prove I can do it."

Orochimaru sighed as he pulled out a single pill. If he did survive this, not only would he gain level two cursed seal, and be completely under his control, he might even be able to spread rumours about having an invincible warrior who could survive any injury. Indeed, Naruto would become a major piece in his plans. Not a pawn, more of a Rook. Orochimaru handed the pill to Naruto who looked at carefully. Tayuya may not say it directly, but Naruto was definitely the only person she could relate to. Having pasts where they were scorned and called 'demons' by everyone around them, he was able to understand her and she him. If anything, she almost dared to call him a friend. She looked at him with nothing but pure concern in her eyes.

"Naruto, if you god damn eat that pill, I'll kill you!"

Everyone looked at her in surprise and interest. Sakon smirked.

"Since when did you start calling Naruto by his real name?"

She shot him a withering glare and a small amount of killer intent which Orochimaru had insisted they had all learn young.

"Shut it you two headed freak."

Kidoumaru smiled widely.

"Just admit it, you'll fell better."

Tayuya launched at him and began having a scuffle. Naruto sighed. He really didn't want to listen to this again and knew if he waiting until they finished, they would physically stop him from eating the pill. He threw the pill into his mouth and swallowed it. Only Orochimaru had noticed this and smiled. Naruto's eyes widened as he fell to his knees and clutched his stomach and began moaning, effectively stopping everyone from either fighting or watching the fighting. He felt like his stomach was trying to rip itself apart, and the sensation spread out from there to cover his entire body. Tayuya got off Kidoumaru and ran to Naruto's side, putting an arm on his shoulder.

"You idiot, Naruto! If you die, I'm going to summon you back from hell and kill you myself! IDIOT!"

Naruto smiled weakly at her as another spasm of pain went through his body.

"I'll be fine… Believe it… Tayuya-Chan…"

With that Naruto howled out in pain and dropped to the floor, unconscious. If it wasn't for the fact that Naruto was on the floor dying, the others would have laughed at the suffix Naruto had attached to her name and never let either of them live it down. However, the fact that their friend was now on the verge of death and there was nothing they could do about it was far more concerning. Kabuto chose that time to come around the corner and sighed as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"What's with all this noise?"

Kabuto then saw Naruto on the floor and his eyes narrowed he ran over to the boy and checked his vitals. They were faint and erratic and getting worse by the second. Orochimaru smiled at his right hand man.

"Kabuto, take Naruto to the infirmary and watch him closely."

Kabuto nodded and picked Naruto up.

"Hai, Orochimaru-Sama."

The others looked at Naruto's limp form in pure fear while Orochimaru walked away, very interested in the results of this.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**Two Days Later:**

The other four of the Sound Five had been worried. Very worried. No word on Naruto's condition had been heard by anyone. After the second day of Naruto's 'death', they were in their rooms, lost in their own thoughts when a feeling of pure bloodlust, insanity and an urge to kill like no other washed over them. They froze as the walls and ceiling started crumbling under the intense chakra infused emotions. After a few seconds, it stopped. All of them ran out of their rooms to see what had happened, seeing Oto Nins running everywhere in a panic. Obviously, they hadn't been wrong about that feeling. Jiroubou looked at Naruto's door, or more specifically, underneath it.

"What's with the mist?"

They looked where Jiroubou was indicating and saw a pitch black mist oozing out from under Naruto's door. Tayuya, being the closest to his door ran and ripped it open only to be covered in the black mist. She chocked and spluttered as the arid mist invaded her mouth and burnt her throat. Once it cleared, she saw Naruto standing on what might have been the remains of his bed. However, Naruto had partially released the first level of the cursed seal to cover the bottom part of his face. His eyes were the most startling change however. The whites were now pitch black and his irises were blood red, his pupils slitted. He was looking at her with a confident smirk on his face.

"Believe it."

Tayuya hid her own emotions of joy and worry for her friend by charging at him and smashing him over the head with her fist.

"You prize idiot! What the-"

Tayuya stopped there and noticed something. Naruto hadn't even moved a muscle when she's smashed him over the head. He looked at her with nothing more than mock annoyance on his face.

"Really now, Tayuya-Chan, is that anyone to treat a friend who's come back from the dead?"

Naruto had also noticed the others at the door. He took his eyes off Tayuya for a moment and looked at them, a slight smile touching his lips.

"Hey guys. Hope you didn't miss me too much."

Naruto grimaced in pain as his flame tattoos reactivated and retreated to the seal on his navel. The others saw his eyes returning to the normal vibrant blue on white. He returned looked over each of them and broke into a wide smile.

"You guys seriously have to get to level two."

All of them smiled and walked in, happy that their friend was alive. Jiroubou put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"You had us all worried, Naruto."

Naruto chuckled.

"I won't die. I can't die. Not until I achieve my dream."

Naruto looked over Jiroubou's shoulder from his raised position on the bed to see Orochimaru standing there.

"And what would that dream be, Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto smiled with a heavy dose of sadism.

"To help you kill those bastards in Konoha and watch it burn to the ground for what they did to me, Orochimaru-Sama."

Orochimaru couldn't be more pleased. Orochimaru had long ago found out that removing free will from a living being was physically impossible; however, animated corpses had no free will. After a while, Orochimaru combined his research to create some sort of power amplification seal with his removal of free will and ended up with the cursed seal. The more the seal was used, the more it killed the barer. The line was not clear cut to anyone but Orochimaru as to when the person 'died'. Yes, their heart kept beating, they continued breathing and had all of the other regular functions of a human, but they were not really living passed a certain point. And that point was when the seal achieved the second level. Somehow, the Kyuubi had interfered in the process, gaining the second level without actually dieing, meaning all of the power and free will as well. However, Orochimaru could tell that Naruto was not lying to him. Being surrounded by people who would betray him at the first opportunity they got meant it was essential to be able to read one's true intentions at all times, and Naruto was not lying in the slightest.

"Excellent, Naruto-Kun. I have yet to see the appearance of a stage two seal…"

Naruto smiled. So he was the first person to ever achieve stage two. He focused on activating the first level and then began to engage the second level. To the others, it seemed as if the black flames lit up again, but instead of retreating, they grew in size and turned his entire body black before softening into a sickly brown colour. Naruto's blonde spikes turned jet black and grew in length to turn into a mane of sunlight absorbing hair. His finger and toe nails lengthened as did his canines. The triple slashes on his cheeks widened and darkened. The most shocking initial change of all was that Naruto's ears turned into elongated appendages covered in his hair that belonged to the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Naruto opened his eyes to reveal his whites were black and his irises were red. Naruto groaned in pain as they heard the sound of morphing flesh and bone. They heard a ripping noise as a tail of the same colour as his skin shot out behind him. The others stumbled back, not just because of the physical changes but because they were literally forced back by the black chakra he was giving off in copious amounts. Naruto continued to groan as tail after tail continued to sprout from his tailbone. Finally, the ninth tail appeared and Naruto growled, releasing a massive spike of killer intent that even slightly affected Orochimaru. Orochimaru recovered and smiled at his 'creation'. He really should get his hands on more Jinchurikis and give them cursed seals. This was the epitome of his research. Orochimaru smiled and approached Naruto who grinned ferally at him.

"I must say, Naruto-Kun, you do look quite frightening."

Naruto shuddered as a particularly violent spasm of pain went through his body. Unable to hold the form anymore without severe repercussions, Naruto released it and returned to normal. Orochimaru grinned widely. If Naruto was even able to survive the sped up corruption caused by the seal, let alone activate it for even a single minute at this age, this was a good indication that Naruto would become very powerful in the not too distant future. Naruto gasped for breath before he fell over unconscious from the strain. The others rushed to his side to see if he was ok while Orochimaru beamed at his 'subject'.

"It's to be expected. It was highly unlikely that Naruto-Kun would have even survived the pill's effects, let alone be able to activate his second level so soon…"

The others looked at him in astonishment.

"Then why did you give it to him, Orochimaru-Sama?"

Orochimaru smiled and chuckled softly.

"To see if he was his father's child…"

That drew blank looks from the four other conscious people in the room as Orochimaru gave them a sigh and turned to leave.

"I had my suspicions that Naruto-Kun was of royal lineage in Konoha…"

Kidoumaru, being the brains of the group got whiff of what Orochimaru was hinting at and his eyes practically popped out of his head when he put two and two together from his history lessons and that single sentence.

"No… No way…"

Everyone turned to Kidoumaru as he was trembling. Tayuya was getting pissed off, as she usually did.

"If you know what he's talking about, then fill us in idiot!"

Kidoumaru looked back at Naruto and confirmed his suspicions.

"Machigainai… Naruto's the son of the Yondaime Hokage…"

The other three froze as this sunk in while Orochimaru smiled widely at Kidoumaru in that creepy fashion he was so famous for.

"You were always the perceptive one, Kidoumaru-Kun…"

Jiroubou frowned at Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru-Sama, if he's the son of the Yondaime Hokage… Why did the people of his village hate him?"

Orochimaru sighed as he looked at Naruto in mock sympathy.

"Yondaime used his only son as the Kyuubi's vessel, but the fools of Konoha convinced themselves that he was the reincarnation of the Kyuubi, not a human…"

The others looked more shocked than should be possible. Naruto had saved them against his will and they treated him like that? This was a lot to take in. Tayuya smirked.

"I am so going to kill those shit heads. Demon my ass."

The others smirked at her. Sakon grinned in an almost accusing fashion at her.

"You're really getting close to him, aren't you?"

To their surprise, Tayuya didn't deny it with a tirade of verbal abuse like normal. In fact, she was seething, much to the shock of others. She had said that as much for herself as for Naruto.

"That's not it you two headed freak. I hate all people who call others demons, even if it's not me. You better believe when I get my hands on them, I'll castrate them, the pieces of shit."

The boys in the room winced. That was harsh and they felt a momentary pang of sympathy for any male who her anger was directed at. Orochimaru took that moment to leave. Turning around and taking several steps, he called over his shoulder.

"I'm expecting a lot from you five. Do not disappoint me."

The four that were still conscious nodded and watched Orochimaru meld into the shadows of the dimly lit hallway, leaving them to their own devices. Little known to them, Naruto was not having a dreamless 'sleep'. Or not in all senses of the word. He was currently standing in front of a very familiar cage with a slip of paper holding it shut that simply said 'seal'. However, what was currently of interest to the blond was not the cage, but what it imprisoned. Naruto smirked at the nine tailed fox spirit.

"Bet you liked that, baka Kitsune."

The Kitsune was far too exhausted to bite back with a witty reply. He'd been to hell and back just to make sure his jailor had survived the dreaded pill he was given.

**"When I get out of here, I will particularly enjoy killing you and those pathetic apes you call 'friends'."**

Naruto smiled at the fox. Naruto had quickly found out when he had started visiting the damn oversized fur ball that if he died, so did it. Naruto had worked out that the fox, if not all demons in general, valued their life above all else. So, as payment for making his early life a living hell, he enjoyed finding ways to severely injure himself. Even trapped in the cage, knowing he would die eventually, the fox still tried to live the last few decades of his unnatural life, no matter the cost. The fox couldn't believe he was bowing to the whims of a mortal, and the son of the ape who put him in this predicament no less. It was demeaning, to say the least. However, what the filthy ape of a container said next caught him off guard.

"Teach me something cool."

The fox may be old by mortal standards, but its' mind showed no signs of aging, perhaps apart from the fact that he had not expected this of all things he might say.

**"What did you say, brat?"**

"You heard me you overgrown ball of fur. Teach me something cool."

The king of the demons started a small chuckle. The chuckle turned into giggles which in turn became full blown laughter. Ever heard a hundred metre tall fox laughing at you from the distance of less than 25 metres? In one word, it was deafening. Naruto gritted and put up with the noise as the Kyuubi slowly stopped and looked at boy.

**"Even by human standards, you're exceedingly dense."**

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"And what makes you say that, oh great lord of all knowledge?"

The sarcasm dripping off the sentence was impossible to miss.

**"The fact that you think I'm going to teach you anything."**

Naruto smiled. This was his mindscape. He could do **anything** here. He materialised a kunai and brought it to his own neck, much to the dismay of the Kyuubi.

"How many times are we going to do this? Teach me something cool, or else."

To illustrate his point, Naruto touched the kunai tip to his neck and just for show, grossly exaggerated the trickle of blood to make a geyser of blood spray out from his neck.

"Oh, the agony…"

The Kyuubi sweat dropped. This boy was really unusual. In public, he was completely different than in his mind. He had his own theories that all humans were like this but did not expect the differences between his public and private personalities to be so… Blatant. He'd never encountered a human like him. Not in his 10,000 or so years of existence. Then again, he'd never gotten to know a human this well. Still, he decided to indulge the strange boy, if only to prevent him from any more of these… episodes.

**"Listen up, gaki. Regardless of the fact that you want me to teach you something, which I would assume would be one of the things you humans refer to as 'jutsus', there comes a point when jutsus become nothing but concentrated blasts of chakra. There is no need for giving them names."**

Naruto looked at the spirit of the Kitsune with a deadpanned expression.

"That's… Boring…"

The Kyuubi looked at the boy, mirroring the deadpanned expression. What was it with these god damn humans and having to name everything? A blast of chakra is a blast of chakra, no matter its' shape, size, power or appearance.

**"You really are dense…"**

Naruto looked up at the Kitsune. One of the other changes he'd been shocked to find after taking the pill and visiting the Kitsune was that his fur was no longer red. He was completely black. It probably had something to do with the fact that three rather large pulsating purple pipes had appeared and were leading from the network of pipes in the roof directly inside the Kitsune's cage. It would definitely explain why his chakra when activating the cursed seal was black instead of red. Naruto immediately thought of something that could prove useful.

"Is there a Kitsune Summoning Contract?"

The king of demons raised an eyebrow, or the fur covered skin above the eye in his case.

**"Demon Summoning Contracts are not a simple as regular ones."**

Naruto slapped his forehead. Demons had to be difficult, didn't they?

"Let me guess. One can only sign the contract if they undergo some sort of trial right?"

The Kitsune nodded slightly.

**"Like all demons, they will only listen to those who are stronger than they and only if they are constantly held in check. Unless you feel like taking over my position as king of demons full time and force the temporary Kitsune leader into submission and make sure they stay there, don't even bother, brat."**

Naruto did not particularly feel like pulling out nine tails worth of chakra just to earn the right to sign a contract that he would never be able to use because of the fact he would be dead before the fight ended. Orochimaru wouldn't let him sign the snake contract and he couldn't get his hands on any other type. So in short, no summoned minions for him. It would be interesting to have a black nine tailed Kitsune smashing things to pieces under his command. From what he'd heard, Jinchurikis were able to take on their tenant's appearances in not only form but height and power as well. The one downside was that this was really only feasible for the first 3 tailed beasts. Any more than that and they would end up killing themselves and releasing their tenants before they attained their 'true' form. The best he could come up with was a rather large scale Henge no Jutsu when he was in the second stage of the cursed seal. Once he was old enough to be able to withstand four tails of power, he should be able to level a rather large portion of Konoha in a single blast of chakra. Not to mention he should be pretty much invincible, if what his tenant had said was true. Only problem was, it would be so much power that blood would literally be ripped from his pores and even if he survived, his lifespan would be shortened. Nothing in this world was truly free… Naruto shook himself from the train of thought and looked back up at the Kitsune who was looking at him with a bland expression on his face.

**"Get out of here. I've had enough of you."**

Naruto smirked as he returned back to the realm of the living. When he came to, he saw that his room looked like an exploding tag had hit it. Naruto sweat dropped.

_'I'm **really** going to have to stop releasing my seal inside the compound…'_

Naruto looked at his watch and saw that it was almost 5 am. He'd been out for a while… Naruto heard a sigh from his doorway and looked up to see Kabuto standing there, surveying the blast zone that was formally Naruto's room with a look that expressed mild amusement as well as slight annoyance.

"Naruto-Kun, I wish you would stop doing this. This is the second time I've had to have your room repaired."

Naruto looked somewhat sheepish. As long as you were in Kabuto's good books, he wasn't that bad a guy. He tended to have a dry sense of humour and was fairly easy going. New members of the Oto ninja sometimes made the mistake of calling him a lazy bum or some such. Occasionally, Kabuto would let it slide, but the particular Oto Nin usually disappeared fairly quickly, leaving no traces of his existence behind. When Kabuto did deal with it at the time, he would be smiling at them before they started hacking up blood and died a rather painful death. Less experienced ninjas didn't even see him move, while the upper Chuunin and Jounins saw that he used a chakra scalpel to do some rather serious damage in under a second. People quickly stopped pestering him or insulting him unless they had a death wish. Snapping back to the present, Naruto looked around the room and then back at Kabuto.

"If Orochimaru-Sama's reaction was anything to go by, it's a small price to pay."

Kabuto nodded slightly in agreement.

"I don't think anyone in Oto didn't feel that chakra, Naruto-Kun. As for now, take a spare room down the hall until I can have this fixed."

Naruto nodded and smiled slightly at Kabuto.

"Arigato, Kabuto-San."

Kabuto sighed and waved Naruto off. Truthfully, Orochimaru, Kabuto and Naruto all had a somewhat unusual relationship. All of them were Konoha Nukenins who shared a loathing for the damn village and its' people. Naruto looked up to Kabuto as somewhat of a mentor and older brother. Although Kabuto had seen Naruto initially as nothing more than a tool that should be used to serve it's purpose, after a while he'd seen that Naruto was more than just a pawn and shared a lot of Kabuto's own personal beliefs. Also, Naruto's attitude just seemed to have an effect on people. Most of the time, the ninjas of Oto were either scared of slipping up lest they incur the wrath of one of their superiors or they just didn't care, as long as they were paid. The closest term that could apply to Naruto was a mixture between moral booster, comic relief and leader. He didn't kill people because they stepped out of line. Instead, he just activated the first level of the cursed seal and smiled ferally at them, usually with a rather sadistic comment thrown in to boot before retuning to normal and smiling sweetly at them. The response he got was surprisingly similar to what Mitarashi Anko got in Konoha from what Kabuto saw during his spy missions. Naruto walked down the hall way to the next available room, leaving Kabuto and several Oto Nins to clean up the mess.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**A/N:** Well, I'm glad I finally got that out of the way. Anyways, if you want to chat to me, check out the link in my profile to the topic I created on the NarutoFan Forums. It's pretty much just a way I can keep in touch with you guys and tell all of you if something's come up or whatnot. I'll catch you round!

Ja na,

Specula.


	3. A Self Loving Carnage

**A/N:** Yo! If you're wondering where I got the name for this chapter, it's the route of Gaara's name; _Ware wo ai suru shura _which means_ 'self loving carnage'_. And if you're wondering what I based Gaara's personality on after they meet, it's pretty much Gaara after the time skip with a hint of the violent tendencies from when he was in the Chunin Exams without the insatiable bloodlust. Also, he doesn't have the 'love' tattoo on his forehead in this fic.

As a note, in this fic, according to me Orochimaru is **not** gay. Do you understand? By not, I mean he is heterosexual. So don't get any ideas, got it? I will not tolerate any 'OMG, Orochimaru and Gaara are gay!' crap. Sure, in canon, he did what he does to Gaara in this chapter to Kimimaro, but he also did it to Anko, who unless you're blind and deaf, is **female**.

Remember how I said I had an idea for Naruto in the Star Wars Galaxy? I think I can kill two birds with one stone and implement that idea into the Living Behind a Mask story. What's the other problem? Sasuke has a whole galaxy to choose from, not just a single planet. And no, I'm not going to pair him with a Twi'lek or a Wookie, or a Mon Calamari, or a Hutt… Oh that's just gross… SasukexHutt… The image is stuck… I'm scared for life… or anything like that. After typing those race names out, I just realized something. Those names are apparently part of the official English language according to Word's spell check. I didn't add them, but there are no grammatical or spelling errors in them… Back on topic, I think the way I want to do it is somewhat… Believable. However, it's up to you guys if you want me to make a side story/sequel to it. Just say yay or nay in a review for Living Behind a Mask or drop me a PM. If the majority of people say 'yay', I'll wrap the Living Behind a Mask up quickly and transport them to the Star Wars Galaxy. For those of you who are wondering what time frame of the Star Wars series it will be, I'm dumping them with Luke at the start of episode 4.

As a final note, if I say a fic will feature this pairing or that pairing, it will. If I decide to change the pairing later for some emergency reason, I will change the summary and the entire storyline to suit the change. So, if the summary says it will be a Naruto x Female Kyuubi pairing, that's what it will be.

Thanks again to my Beta, Kyuubi no Yoko 9.

Legend:

_'...Human or Lesser Summon Thinking/Small A/N...' _

**_'...Demon or Summon Boss Thinking...' _**

"...Human or Lesser Summon Talking..."

**"...Demon or Summon Boss Talking..." **

"...SHOUTING/TWO OR MORE PEOPLE SAYING THE SAME THING/CASTING THE SAME JUTSU..."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

Chances Missed:

Chapter Three:

A Self Loving Carnage:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**A Year & Several Months Later:**

Naruto and the other four had been summoned to Orochimaru by Kabuto himself, which usually meant it was important. Once they got to the room, Orochimaru smiled at them.

"I believe all of you are now capable of starting missions. However, the first mission you will complete is of utmost importance to Oto. The objective of this mission is the son of the Yondaime Kazekage; A red haired boy by the name of Gaara."

Everyone raised an eyebrow in various degrees of shock at this. Orochimaru seemed to sense this and chuckled.

"No, you will not be killing him. On the contrary, I want you to bring him back with you alive."

Naruto nodded and he tried to figure out what the reason for this abduction was. Orochimaru never did anything without a reason.

"Orochimaru-Sama, what is it about Gaara that interests you?"

Orochimaru smiled at Naruto. The boy was beginning to understand the way he worked quite well.

"This should also interest you, Naruto-Kun. Gaara is another like you, a Jinchuriki."

Naruto's eyes widened while the others turned to their unofficial leader. Naruto's look of shock turned into a calculative scowl.

"Which one is he?"

Orochimaru smiled.

"The Ichibi's container."

Naruto's scowl morphed into a devious grin usually associated with a fox that's had a rather cunning idea.

"Leave it to us, Orochimaru-Sama."

Orochimaru smiled widely.

"I know you will succeed. You will leave tomorrow morning for Sunagakure."

They nodded and bowed as they left the room. A part of the far shadowed wall warped as things did when a Genjutsu was dispelled, revealing Kabuto. Kabuto looked at Orochimaru in concern.

"Orochimaru-Sama, perhaps you should have sent back up with them…"

Orochimaru smiled at his right hand man. Kabuto was really only concerned about Naruto, and not the others.

"They will be fine. After all, why wouldn't Naruto-Kun attempt to gain more friends like himself?"

Kabuto said nothing which meant he had nothing more to say.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**A Week & a Half Later, Near Sunagakure:**

The Sound Five ran across the dunes, seeing the rocky outcrop that Sunagakure was nestled in. Naruto turned to the others as they kept running.

"Going in through the front would be stupid."

They nodded in agreement. Kidoumaru smiled as he thought about their situation.

"They will probably expect an attack from the back, so why not go over the sides?"

Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Ok, everyone turn on their headsets."

Everyone pressed the button to turn them on and began testing. Naruto began the procedure.

"Sound One."

Jiroubou went next.

"Two."

Kidoumaru tested next.

"Three."

Tayuya tested.

"Four."

"Five and Six."

Tayuya smacked Sakon over the head.

"Baka! Since when did your body invading freak of a brother count as a separate person?"

Ukon looked at Tayuya in a mock hurt.

"I have feelings too, Tayuya-_Chan_."

In response, he got a smack over the head with Tayuya's Genjutsu flute.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, and don't call me that again, bastard."

Ukon smiled and went back to 'sleep'. Naruto turned his head around.

"Guys, if you see Gaara, alert me immediately, but do not interfere. If anyone's going to convince him, it'll be me. Remove your hitai-ate."

They nodded and removed their forehead protectors, stowing them away for safe keeping. They were almost within range of Suna. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

" Split!"

All five of them split up to enter Suna from several different directions.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**On Top of the Wall of the East Part of Sunagakure:**

Naruto was perched on top of the rocky ledge surrounding the east part of the village.

"This is one, I'm ready to enter."

Naruto waited for the others to report in.

"Two, ready."

"Same here with four."

"Five waiting for instructions."

"Three, ready."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"Commence mission."

All five of them jumped into Suna and began to scout for the red haired Tanuki container.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**With Tayuya:**

Tayuya heard several children playing some sort of ball game and she sneered in disgust. However, when she looked around the corner, she saw what was most likely the target sitting on a swing to the side of the playground, holding a teddy bear and looking at the children devoid of emotions. Tayuya smiled as she slipped back around the corner and held her mic closer to her mouth.

"This is Three. I've found the target. Activating tracker."

Tayuya pulled up her sleave to reveal what to most would look like a watch. It was a watch, however, she pressed a button on the side and the backlight started flashing on and off with a second in between each flash. It was standard ninja equipment in Oto, and it was extremely unlikely that other villages could pick up this particular wave length. Soon enough, the other four gathered. Naruto smiled as he looked around the corner.

"Nice work, Tayuya."

Tayuya smirked at her accomplishment as Naruto wrapped his cloak around himself, hiding his Oto elite uniform. He smiled and gave his team thumbs up.

"Time to move in for the kill. Make sure no one interferes."

They nodded and took up positions in the shadows around the perimeter of the playground as Naruto calmly walked up to the swing beside Gaara and took a seat. Naruto purposefully ignored him, looking at the children playing. Gaara noticed him and remained silent, hoping he wouldn't notice him and like everyone else, run away screaming. Naruto sighed and gave himself a slight push, using a speech with Kyuubi's help that he couldn't put into words. While the giant fur ball may only care about itself, it knew that subordinates and allies were important to maintain its' life, and so agreed to help him.

"To be accepted…"

That caught Gaara's attention as he looked at Naruto.

"Is it a crime to want to be accepted?"

Gaara looked at Naruto in astonishment when Naruto looked at him with eyes that showed pain, suffering and most of all, understanding. Naruto smiled weakly.

"Especially since people like us are the only reason other humans still live today."

Naruto shook his head and gave another slight push, making the chains creek. Gaara looked at Naruto in something close to fear.

"Who are you?"

Naruto looked at Gaara with a sad smile.

"My name's Naruto. I'm just like you, a demon container. I know what it feels like; the pain, the fear, the loneliness, the ache in your heart, the craving for acceptance."

Gaara looked at Naruto in shock. He was just like him? Naruto looked at Gaara with a smile.

"Gaara, do you want to be my friend? I'm sure you're a really nice guy."

Gaara practically fainted. This boy was asking to be his friend? Gaara nodded and smiled, happy that he'd made his first friend. Naruto looked stern for a moment.

"Gaara, although we're friends, you can't talk about me to anyone just yet, ok?"

Gaara looked at Naruto questioningly.

"Gaara, I'm not from this village. If they found out, they would kill me."

Gaara gasped, but readily agreed. If that's what it took to keep a friend, then he'd do it. Naruto looked up when a boy on the field cried out 'SHOOT'. Naruto saw the ball fly right over the goal posts and on top of the building. Gaara noticed to. Naruto turned to Gaara.

"Gaara, I'm going to leave for a bit. Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

Gaara nodded and Naruto disappeared. The other members of the Sound Five appeared next to Naruto as he hid behind a building. Naruto smiled at them.

"It seems that Gaara won't come just yet. It won't be long though; another few days at most. Let's get out of the village and keep an eye on him when we get the chance."

They nodded and ran up the wall and over the edge of the walls of Sunagakure, keeping a careful eye on Gaara whenever he came close to the walls.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**Next Night:**

The Sound Five were watching Gaara as he sat on a rooftop, talking to himself. All five of them noticed a solitary figure appeared behind him and began levitating kunai that were pointed at Gaara. Naruto motioned for them to wait while he went ahead. They nodded as Naruto leapt down behind Gaara and began blocking the kunai as they were projected forward as a wall of sharpened metal. Gaara gasped and turned around to see his new friend blocking the kunai with his own. Naruto snarled at the man, ripping off his cloak to reveal his Oto uniform. He glared at the masked ninja.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Don't you realise it's hard enough for him to hold Shukaku back with his will alone? You're not helping him! Or do you want Shukaku released again?"

That seemed to strike a nerve, if the subtle flinch was anything to go by. He silently produced another pair of kunai sets and projected them at Naruto. Naruto may have been skilled for his age, but he still couldn't block all of them. Several imbedded themselves in his chest, legs and arms. Naruto grunted as he fell to the ground and remained still, his blood pooling around him. Gaara was being backed into the last pocket of sanity as he saw his only friend die to protect him. Gaara steeled his resolve as he engulfed the masked Suna Nin in sand and then crushed him. He walked up to the ninja and noticed a bandage on his right ring finger. Gaara seized up as he slowly reached for the ninja's face mask and pulled it off to confirm his worst suspicions.

"You are strong as expected… Gaara-Sama…"

Gaara gripped his heart as he felt a foreign power try to corrupt him from the inside.

"Yashamaru…"

Gaara fell to his knees and clutched his head, screaming in pure pain and anguish.

"Yashamaru… Doushite?"

Yashamaru looked up at the sky and noticed it was a full moon. He silently cursed his luck. Shukaku's influence over his container had always become more apparent when it was a full moon.

"It was an order…"

Gaara looked up at Yashamaru as he explained.

"I was ordered to kill you… By your father."

Gaara looked at Yashamaru with a massive amount of hope in his eyes seen in that of only the most desperate people.

"Then you did this unwillingly because father ordered you to…"

"No… That's not correct."

Gaara's eyes widened as he felt the last of his will slipping to the foreign force in his body.

"It's true I received the order from Kazekage-Sama, but I could have refused it if I wished. Gaara-Sama, deep within my heart, I hated you. You took the life of my beloved sister when you were born. My sister's memento… I tried to think of you as her treasured child, but I couldn't. My sister did not wish for your birth. She became this village's sacrifice, and she died cursing it. After that, I carried a wound that could never heal…"

Yashamaru sighed and coughed up a chunk of blood.

"This is it. Please die, Gaara-Sama."

Yashamaru opened his flak jacket to reveal a mass of exploding tags that he had just activated. They exploded, covering the entire roof top in a ball of orange yellow flame. The remaining members of the Sound Five saw their leader just starting to stand up when the explosion went off and charged in.

"Naruto!"

Gaara looked up as four strange people surrounded Naruto who grimaced from the pain, but looked up at Gaara with a weak smile on his face. Everyone present saw that leading outward from the wall of sand in front of Gaara was an area of roof that had remained untouched by the explosion, and Naruto was right in the middle of it.

"Thanks for protecting me, Gaara. If you hadn't made that wall of sand, I'd be dead now…"

Gaara's tortured face brightened somewhat when he saw his friend was still alive.

"Naruto..."

Naruto smiled at Gaara.

"I don't die that easily."

Gaara looked at Naruto and then back at the blood splattered crater, as if torn by some internal decision. Naruto saw his chance.

"Gaara, this is almost the same thing that happened to me in my village when I left. I had no one, nothing. However, a man saved me from assassination and told me that this treatment wasn't normal. He took me to a village were you are expected to be different from others, a village that won't hate you or try to kill you for being who you are. Since I joined the village several years ago, I've become one of the most powerful people there. The only thing you need to do to stay there is serve our leader, Orochimaru-Sama. If you serve him well, he will acknowledge you and train you. He will give you power beyond your wildest dreams. And for his elites, he takes special interest in them and trains them to be his personal bodyguards. I have no doubt you will be able to join the five of us in the elites in no time at all, Gaara. Will you come with us?"

Gaara slowly got to his feat and stared at them, his eyes completely void of emotion.

"I want to go to this place. I want to be accepted. I want the power to destroy this village for what they've done to me. I'm coming with you."

Naruto smiled. As he slowly returned to his feet, his wounds completed their rapid healing. He walked up to Gaara and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's go, Gaara, my friend."

Gaara nodded and the six of them left the rooftop just before the nearest ninja patrol got there to inspect the damage, disappearing into the night.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**Two Weeks Later, at Oto:**

They had taken another several days to get back than it had taken to get there due to the fact that Gaara was never much of a speed person. Now that their mission was over, they returned to their normal attitudes. When Gaara asked why they changed, Naruto shrugged.

"We figured while we're on missions, it would be better to focus on the mission and not playing around like we usually do."

One of the days when they stopped for something to eat, Tayuya went on another one of her verbal tirades. Gaara had no idea what any of these things meant and had asked what each and every curse had meant. The four had outvoted Tayuya and made her explain it to Gaara, since she said them and not the others. Sakon laughed at Tayuya was clearly struggling to maintain her 'I don't give a damn' exterior while explaining.

"Maybe you should take Jiroubou's advice and not speak like that."

Tayuya scowed as she smacked Sakon over the head with her flute.

"I don't care what that fatass said, you two headed freak."

Gaara was trying to comprehend this. Naruto had told him that no one would pick on others because they were different. Naruto sighed and looked at Gaara.

"There's a difference between when she's swearing at someone who's not her friend and someone who is. For those of us who are her friends, she'll make one name from our physical appearances and will only use that to refer to us. To everyone else, she'll use general cussing and most likely kill them if they step out of line."

Gaara nodded slowly. Tayuya looked back at Gaara and Naruto and scowled.

"Does he get much sleep? He looks like an insomniac…"

Naruto smiled. This was Tayuya's process of thinking up a name for a friend. Gaara looked down but felt Naruto's hand on his shoulder. He looked up from the ground to see Naruto smiling at him.

"She's trying to decide on a name for you. It's a good sign."

At this Tayuya threw a rice ball at Naruto's head. Not expecting it, Naruto copped it right to the face. It slid down his face before he pulled it off and took a bite out of it. After munching several times and swallowing, Naruto smiled.

"Tasty. Thanks, Tayuya-Chan."

Everyone but Gaara and Naruto sweat dropped. Tayuya fumed at her unofficial leader's strange reaction. Jiroubou raised an eyebrow as he took his own rice ball.

"I don't think we'll ever fully understand you, Naruto."

Naruto shrugged as he chucked the last of the rice ball into his mouth, chewing several times before swallowing. He cracked a grin at his friends and team mates.

"What's there not to understand?"

Kidoumaru looked at Naruto deadpanned.

"The fact that you can turn an insult into something so weird."

Sakon agreed.

"Who the hell would cop a rice ball to the face and then thank the person who threw it?"

Naruto smiled widely.

"Me."

They all sweat dropped again. Tayuya snorted at Naruto.

"And that's the point the fatass was trying to make, fox boy. You're the only one who would do something that screwed up."

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. They talked for a while longer before they continued back towards Oto. When they asked Gaara how much faster he could go, he said not much. Apparently, he focused on power over speed. Once they got to the gates of the Oto village, Gaara shrunk back behind Naruto out of habit. Naruto sighed. Is this how he acted when he first came here? Naruto walked up to the guard who saluted them.

"Naruto-San, Orochimaru-Sama requested that you be sent to him immediately upon your arrival."

Naruto nodded and they walked through the gates. Gaara quickly noticed that people gave him a single glance and then went back to whatever they were doing. Since Naruto had come here almost three years ago, Oto had prospered immensely. When he first came here, it was nothing but an overgrown underground bunker in the middle of no where. Now however, it had a proper village surrounding it. Naruto led his team mates and new friend to the entrance to the bunker and the guards posted outside the door saluted as they passed. Naruto led them down the spiral stairs and through the secret passage way into the main area of the ninja headquarters of the village. Naruto walked passed the door to Kabuto's research room, wondering absentmindedly if he was here or in Konoha. His silent question was answered when the door opened to reveal Kabuto. Kabuto smiled at Naruto and raised a hand in greeting.

"Good to see you back again, Naruto-Kun."

Naruto smiled at Kabuto.

"Arigato, Kabuto-San."

Kabuto smiled when he saw a head of red spikes hiding behind Naruto. Feigning ignorance, he looked questioningly at Naruto.

"Who's your friend, Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto smiled as he looked at Gaara and then back at Kabuto.

"This is Gaara. Gaara, this is the man who saved me three years ago. Don't worry, he won't bite… Unless you try to attack him, anyway…"

Gaara slowly made his way out from behind Naruto and saw Kabuto crouching in front of him and smiling.

"Pleased to meet you, Gaara-Kun. I'm Kabuto."

Gaara nodded and mumbled a hello. Kabuto smiled and stood up from his crouching position and sighed as he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"Reminds me of you when I brought you here, Naruto-Kun."

Naruto smirked slightly.

"We were all like that once."

Kabuto nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. Well, I'm being deployed back to Konoha for a few months. I'll see you guys later."

They nodded as Kabuto walked down the hallway and disappeared into the shadows. Gaara looked at Naruto questioningly.

"Naruto, what is this Orochimaru person like?"

Jiroubou looked at Gaara.

"Gaara, I suggest referring to Orochimaru as Orochimaru-Sama. He's very strict about formalities, even with Naruto who is pretty much fourth in command of Oto behind Orochimaru-Sama's apprentice, Kabuto-San and Orochimaru-Sama himself."

They nodded in agreement. Naruto led the party right to the heart of the underground headquarters. The two Jounin guards nodded at Naruto and one of them knocked on the door. They could hear Orochimaru's voice from within.

"What is it?"

The guard's expression remained stoic, much to his credit.

"Orochimaru-Sama, the Sound Five have returned."

There was a moment's pause before Orochimaru answered.

"Come in."

The guard looked at them as he let them pass. A look that said 'thank god'. After they had entered the room, the door clicked shut and they were cast into almost total darkness. They could make out the faint outline of Orochimaru sitting in his 'throne'. Naruto stepped forward and bowed before raising his head to smile at his leader.

" Mission success, Orochimaru-Sama."

Orochimaru smiled at Naruto and then at the other four.

"I expected no less from you five."

Orochimaru focused his gaze at Gaara who remained motionless. Gaara saw Orochimaru smile.

"You would be Gaara-Kun, then?"

Gaara nodded.

"Hai, Orochimaru-Sama."

Orochimaru smiled as he motioned Gaara forward. Gaara looked at Naruto who nodded. Gaara stepped forward and stood directly in front of Orochimaru. Orochimaru stood and placed a hand on Gaara's cheek.

"What is it you seek? Power? Acknowledgment? Revenge?"

Gaara blushed mildly at the sign of affection but answered with a steady voice.

"I want to be acknowledged like a regular person. I want to power to crush Suna for turning me into this."

Gaara looked at himself to indicate his point. Orochimaru took his hand away and sat back in his chair.

"That's not possible."

Everyone looked at Orochimaru in shock, waiting for his explanation.

"Gaara-Kun, here in Oto, there is no such thing as a regular person. All of us were outcasts from our own villages because they were unable to accept the fact that we are too different from them, and so they fear us. By creating this village, I wished to create a place for all those who are shunned by the villages for their own foolish reasons to call home."

Gaara's eyes lit up. This place was full of people like him, who would understand him? He would do anything to stay here.

"And you wish for acknowledgment, power and revenge?"

Gaara nodded.

"Hai, Orochimaru-Sama…"

Orochimaru smiled and chuckled softly.

"If you serve me, I will give you the power you need to complete your revenge. If you sever me as well as the five behind you have up to now, I will acknowledge you. Will you do it?"

Gaara smiled and nodded his head.

"Hai, Orochimaru-Sama."

Orochimaru smiled.

_'Perfect. I now have two ultimate weapons under my possession…Akatsuki will not likely attack me now, considering they always work in pairs to take out a single Jinchuriki…'_

Orochimaru looked at Naruto.

"Naruto-Kun, I assume you know what to do?"

Naruto nodded.

"Hai, Orochimaru-Sama."

Orochimaru smiled at them.

"I will most likely need you again in the near future. Good job."

They bowed and left the room with Gaara in tow, but Naruto remembered something and turned back around.

"Orochimaru-Sama, is it possible to grow parts of or all of your body with chakra?"

Orochimaru's eyebrow's raised.

"Why do you want to know, Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto began recounting what he had seen and felt since he woke up after the level two activation, and his conversation with the Kyuubi before getting to the point.

"So because I can't summon, I was wondering if it is possible to grow a part of your body with your chakra. At the least, I want to be able to increase the length of my hair to cover my entire body, but preferable be able to grow in size so I can tower over regular people."

Orochimaru smiled as he thought about what he could do.

"And why would you want to cover your body during the second stage, Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto smiled.

"I look half dead when I activate my second level seal. I want to be able to grow my hair to completely cover my body. If I could also increase my body size, it would have much more of an effect on my opponents as well, Orochimaru-Sama."

Orochimaru smiled. Indeed, having the reincarnation of a black furred Kyuubi would be particularly frightening.

"I will see what I can do, Naruto-Kun."

Naruto bowed again to Orochimaru.

"Thank you, Orochimaru-Sama."

Orochimaru smiled as he began thinking through the possibilities.

"No problem, Naruto-Kun. You are dismissed."

Naruto led Gaara and the others out of the room and down the dimly lit hallways towards the first stop. Naruto pushed open a door to reveal the room Kabuto had stopped to get Naruto's clothes after he had his first meeting. Naruto walked passed the rows of folded sheets and blankets, grabbing some clean towels before getting to the clothes. He walked up to the single pile of Oto Elite clothes and looked through it to find one about his own height, since Gaara stood practically level with him. When he found one, he pulled it off the stack and then walked back out. Naruto closed the door behind him and handed the clothes to Gaara and the towels to everyone. Gaara was about to put them on when Naruto stopped him.

"We should all probably have a shower. It's been almost a month since we five had one."

"No kidding. You guys all smell real sweaty."

They all looked at Tayuya in the same dead panned expression. Sakon spoke their minds.

"And you don't?"

Tayuya smacked him over the head.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Kidoumaru whispered to Naruto.

"How many brain cells do you think he has left after being hit so many times?"

Naruto shrugged.

"Not as many as he had before, that's for sure if he hasn't learnt his lesson yet…"

Kidoumaru silently agreed as they came up to the bathrooms. Tayuya pushed open the door to the female room while the boys' went into the men's room. The four boys that were already part of the Sound Five took off their purple rope sashes and put then on the bench. Kidoumaru saw Gaara looking at them and half smiled.

"Once you 'graduate', you'll get one of your own. Come on, we're taking a shower."

Gaara nodded and followed them into the block. He saw each of them take a different stall, so he followed their example, taking one at the far end near Naruto. He still felt somewhat unsafe here, so he tended to stick near what he knew was safe. Gaara saw each of the boys, or more correctly, their hands hanging their clothes and towels over the top of the stalls so they didn't get wet and they could put them back on after they had finished. After each of them had finished their shower, they dried themselves and changed. Once they stepped out of the stalls, they waited for Gaara. Once he stepped out, they took their towels and dumped them in the laundry bin near the door. When they stepped outside, they saw Tayuya standing there looking very peeved.

"What the hell took you so long?"

Gaara looked at her, answering for the group.

"From my experience, females enjoy the shower for an unknown reason. I assumed you would have taken longer, so I took my time."

Tayuya looked at Gaara and tried to refrain from whacking him over the head.

"The hell you mean you thought I was going to take longer insomniac?"

Naruto smiled and put a hand on Gaara's shoulder.

"Welcome to the club."

Gaara looked up at Naruto for an explanation while he just smirked.

"She's given you a name, meaning that she's accepted you into the group. Tayuya's name for someone is sort of the unofficial approval of everyone else in the group."

Gaara nodded and smiled slightly. He now had five friends. He was not regretting coming to Oto whatsoever. The group continued down the hall until they got to a corridor with doors set in it along one wall. Each of them split up and took their own door, but Naruto indicated to Gaara which one he should take, the one directly in front of his. Naruto looked at Gaara and smiled.

"It's too late to do any sort of decent training, so we have to stay in our rooms. We'll come and get you tomorrow and see what sort of training Orochimaru-Sama wants you to do. Night, Gaara."

Gaara nodded at Naruto.

"Night, Naruto."

They both took their separate doors and retired for the night, unsure of what the next day would bring.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**Next Morning:**

At Five AM, Naruto knocked on Gaara's door. There was no response, so he knocked again.

"Oi, Gaara, you up?"

"I do not sleep."

Naruto should have guessed. The black rings of insomnia around his eyes were a dead give away. Naruto focused back as Gaara opened the door in his new robes and nodded to him.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

Gaara shut the door behind him and stepped beside Naruto as they walked down several corridors to a set of double doors which Naruto pushed open. Gaara noticed it was a mess hall, and judging by the number of people in here, the main one. Naruto led Gaara up to a line of people and grabbed a pair of trays. He handed one to Gaara an absent mindedly held his tray by his side. They moved up with the line until Naruto noticed one of the Jounins start yelling at the cook for taking so long. Naruto sighed as he put his tray down and motioned Gaara to follow him. Gaara also put his tray down and they stood behind the Jounin. Naruto waited until the Jounin finally realised that there were people behind him and turned around to look at them. Naruto stare at the man.

"I'm wondering how exactly you made it to Jounin when you didn't notice us for a good minute and a half."

The Jounin sweat dropped. These two were his superiors and answered only to Orochimaru. Gaara looked at the man with narrowed eyes.

"You said they were taking too long? I do not see others complaining. You have been in line for exactly 2 minutes and 46 seconds since we arrived. At that point, you were near the back of the line, indicating you had just come in."

Naruto smiled at Gaara's monotone voice. Naruto looked back at the man.

"Well, if it's still not fast enough for you, maybe you could do it faster by yourself? You'd look good in an apron and chefs hat…"

The entire room apart from Naruto and Gaara sweat dropped. The Jounin nodded and scurried off with his food while Naruto nodded at the server who smiled at him before taking Gaara back to their spot which the latest addition to the line smirked as he vacated for them. The Genin spoke up to them.

"Thanks for taking him down a peg. He's my Jounin Sensei and sometimes he's too full of himself for his own good."

Naruto turned around and grinned at him. The boy wore bandages that covered his entire head except his left eye.

Naruto looked at the Genin in interest.

"I don't think I've seen you around before… You new?"

Dosu smirked and nodded as he extended his hand, which Naruto took.

"Kinuta Dosu. You're Naruto, right?"

Naruto nodded and turned to give a sidelong glance at Gaara when Dosu extended his hand. Gaara slowly extended his own hand and took it. Naruto sighed and shook his head.

"Gaara, we're really going to have to work on your social skills…"

Gaara nodded while Dosu took his hand back. By now, Naruto and Gaara were pretty much at the front of the line. When Naruto stepped up he smiled at the chef.

"Naruto-San, thanks for backing up my work mate."

Naruto waved it off.

"Some people are too stupid to realise that without the 'trash' as they call them, things around here won't work."

The chef smiled as he began pulling plates out of the heated glass display.

"The usual, I presume?"

Naruto nodded and the chef placed a bowl of ramen, a plate of bacon, eggs and sausages as well as a glass of milk on his tray. Naruto smiled widely at the man.

"Thanks, old man."

The old man waved him off and looked at Gaara with a smile, who stared blankly at the man. Naruto sweat dropped. He would have a lot of work to do…

"Gaara, pick the things from the display you want to eat."

Gaara nodded and looked through the display.

"Four sausages, three eggs, six rashers of bacon, a bowl of… Ramen and a glass of milk."

Naruto smiled. It seemed that being a demon container gave you a dramatically increased metabolism. The chef dumped the stuff onto the plate and Gaara stepped up beside Naruto while the two joined their team mates at the unofficial 'elites' table. Naruto took his usual seat next to Tayuya while Gaara took the seat to his other side. Naruto picked up a knife and fork and began shovelling the food in, much to the other's amusement.

"You act like you haven't eaten in months, fox boy."

Naruto looked up at Tayuya, half an egg hanging out of his mouth.

"Wel, I kinder haphent-"

Jiroubou gave Naruto's poor display of table manners a reproachful look.

"Naruto, talk when you don't have a mouth full of food."

Naruto shrugged and ate the rest of his mouthful before smiling.

"I said I kinda haven't. Rice balls and ration bars every day for a month isn't what I call food…"

No one could really fault him there. Naruto put his now clear plate that was not too long ago covered in bacon, eggs and sausages to the side and dug into his ramen. Everyone else ate their food at a much more sedate pace. After Gaara had finished, Naruto looked at him.

"Gaara, does your sand always protect you without you controlling it?"

Gaara nodded while Naruto's face scrunched up.

"Then it's going to be kind of hard for Orochimaru-Sama to give you the power he said he would…"

Gaara looked at Naruto and slightly tilted his head to the side.

"Why?"

Naruto didn't want to explain too much here in the mess hall.

"Basically, he uses a seal that will bring your full power to the surface forcibly. I'm not allowed to talk about it in public, though."

Gaara nodded as he finished off the last of his ramen and put it to the side. Now that everyone had finished their breakfasts, they stood up and put their trays in a pile on top of the pile of them from other people who had finished their own breakfast. They headed out the door and immediately felt Orochimaru's presence nearby. Orochimaru stepped out of the darkness and smiled at his prize students.

"Orochimaru-Sama, did you need something?"

Orochimaru chuckled at Naruto.

"I have been researching my records of jutsus from my days in Konoha. It seems that the Akimichis were able to increase their size by use of chakra. However, it is a clan bloodline jutsu, and I was not able to find an Akimichi willing to part with the secret…"

Naruto smiled at the implications. He never got to perform his medical experiments on an Akimichi to learn their bloodline jutsus.

"Would you like us to retrieve one?"

Orochimaru smiled widely.

"Very perceptive, Naruto-Kun. Yes, I want you to go to Konoha and retrieve an Akimichi. This could be useful to the both of us…"

Naruto nodded. He didn't like the idea of going back to Konoha, but if it was to help him kill them later, it was worth it. He was broken out of his train of thoughts by Orochimaru talking to them.

"However, I wish for the six of you to come to the underground training area at midday. Do not be late."

They nodded as Orochimaru turned to leave.

_'I will see just how much they have grown…'_

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**Midday****, Underground Training Area:**

The six of them wondered why they had been called. The only time Orochimaru ever called them there was when they would engage in some form of combat. Whether that combat was a spar or keeping the prisoners in line, since it was also the prisoner's exercise area. The six of them walked through the dimly lit corridors, through steel doors and finally onto a ledge that overlooked the 'exercise area' to see Orochimaru there with Kimimaro on his knees in front of him. He looked at his five companions to see them looking down at the exchange with interest. Kimimaro stood and looked up at them.

"Which do you choose? To die? Or to Obey?"

Sakon predictably got ready to jump over the railing.

"Obey… Is what you'll do!"

Everyone but Naruto and Gaara jumped down, making Naruto sigh as the two remaining boys jumped down to join them. Sakon, Kidoumaru, Jiroubou and Tayuya activated their cursed seals and charged. Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief as Kimimaro dispatched each of them with one blow. Kimimaro turned to Naruto and Gaara, his Gaia Seal still active.

"Which will you choose?"

Naruto sighed and activated his cursed seal, letting off a wave of killer intent.

**"I may have been willing to listen to you, but after you did that to my friends, I'll have to decline both of them."**

Kimimaro quirked an eyebrow slightly as he charged Naruto, only to be driven back by a blast of black chakra that came off Naruto's fist. Orochimaru smiled as Naruto drove Kimimaro back with a second wave of chakra. From what Naruto had heard, close combat with Kimimaro was not even remotely considerable, so he was forced to try and keep him at bay. Naruto gave a look at Gaara who nodded and held up a hand, crushing the floor tiles to make sand which he engulfed Kimimaro with. Gaara looked at him with a look that would make flowers wither.

"Which will you choose? To die? Or obey?"

Kimimaro grimaced as he forced the sand off him with a wall of bone that extended from his body. Kimimaro went straight for Gaara and tried to stab him through the heart with his bone sword. Gaara didn't even flinch as the bone sword got within a meter of him and was stopped by a wall of sand. Naruto smiled as he came up behind Kimimaro and attempted to lodge a kunai into his neck. He smirked when it did connect, only to reel back as it only pierced the skin and would go no further. Kimimaro looked at Naruto before punching him into the back wall with his Gaia Seal's enhanced physical strength. Naruto got out of the crater and snarled.

**"You asked for it, teme. This time, I won't go easy on you."**

Gaara and Kimimaro's eyes widened as the lines of flames flashed and widened to cover his entire skin. His ears grew in height and became pointed at the tips; his yellow hair turned black and grew in length to cover his entire back in a mass of black spikes. He grunted as his nine tails appeared one by one and he opened his eyes to revel black whites and the same red irises as the first stage. However, this time, the mass of black chakra he was expelling took form around him and his middle tail like a semi transparent suit of black armour. He grinned ferally at Kimimaro.

**"Let's see what you've got."**

Naruto came up to a slouched standing position and brought his hand down in a vertical slashing motion, extending a black chakra arm to smash into the completely dumbfounded Kimimaro and slam him into the back wall. Naruto lowered onto all fours and charged him, letting out a snarling war cry as he slammed Kimimaro back into the dent in the wall just as he was getting up. Naruto's chakra hand grabbed Kimimaro's neck. He wasn't going to risk having his bones puncture his real hand.

**"Let's get one thing straight here. I'm fine with listening to your suggestions, comments and requests, but the second you start ordering me around and doing that to my team mates, you're stepping over the line. I can tell you only just got that seal, so you can't activate level two or even use level one effectively. Right now, I could destroy this whole arena if I wanted. Now, what do you chose? To die? Or to Obey?"**

Kimimaro grunted as he turned his head to the side. The hand of Naruto's chakra armour tightened, causing Kimimaro to let out a slight gurgle as his wind pipe became severely blocked.

**"ANSWER ME!"**

Kimimaro looked at Naruto in disgust, more with himself than Naruto. He obeyed only Orochimaru. However, if he wanted to live, he would have to submit. He looked at Orochimaru who just smiled at him with a momentary raise of the eyebrows which Kimimaro took as 'make your decision'. Naruto let Kimimaro go and watched in satisfaction as Kimimaro started gasping for air. He looked back up at Naruto before lowering himself into a submissive bow.

Naruto looked to Orochimaru who nodded slightly. He turned back to Kimimaro. It was time to take him down several pegs.

"It's about time you saw what you were supposed to do. From now on, we are the Sound Seven, but you will be lower in the chain of command than my four team mates you beat. Understood?"

Kimimaro nodded slightly.

"Hai."

Naruto deactivated his cursed seal and smirked at Kimimaro before going back to his team mates.

"You guys ok?"

The ones who could move nodded slightly. Naruto looked at them in amusement.

"You guys aren't helping yourselves by having your cursed seals active, you know."

All four of them deactivated them. Naruto felt Orochimaru come up next to him.

"Naruto-Kun, that was splendid. It is a true pity I cannot use you as a container because of the Kyuubi…"

Naruto sighed and shook his head.

"Kyuubi is both a blessing and a curse…"

Orochimaru smiled as he put a hand on his subordinate's shoulder.

"How true…"

Orochimaru looked over his seven subordinates before looking back to Naruto.

"I assume you know why I called you here?"

Naruto nodded.

"To test the Gaia seal's power."

Orochimaru smirked and nodded.

"It's strong if it needed me to go to stage two of the Hell Seal."

Orochimaru smirked as he motioned Naruto to follow him and they walked over to Kimimaro. Kimimaro looked at Naruto in well controlled anger while Naruto stared at him.

"Kimimaro, do not worry. The Gaia Seal will increase in strength with time. For now, however, it would be wise to do as Naruto-Kun says."

"Hai… Orochimaru-Sama…"

Once the four of his injured team mates had recovered enough to walk, they shakily stood up. Naruto turned back to Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru-Sama, when do you want us to leave for Konoha?"

Orochimaru chuckled.

"As soon as possible."

Naruto nodded and lead his team mates out of the prison ground to begin preparing for the extraction mission.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**A/N:** Finally, done! Ok, a couple of things: 1: The mission to capture an Akimichi will not be featured, because it's not to capture any known one and nothing really exciting is going to happen, but I need it to 'happen'. 2: Next chapter will feature the Chuunin Exams. And instead of a single Oto Genin Team, there will be 3. Naruto will be Zaku/Kin/Dosu's Sensei during the preliminaries. And if you're going to scream at me saying 'omg, they'd recognise Naruto right away', you're an idiot. Considering OROCHIMARU was their Jounin Sensei in canon, I don't think they'll recognise Naruto.


	4. Kidnapping & Plotting

**A/N:** HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY TO ME! Or something… And as such, there goes my childhood… Bugger…

Remember how I said sometimes that once I get so many ideas for something, I can't write about anything else? This chapter is one of those times. In this chapter, I'm really only going to allude to the five years in between the end of last chapter. If you think that hitting puberty at the age of 9 is impossible, think again. I hit puberty several weeks after I turned 9, which is why I towered over everyone in primary school. The youngest I've ever heard of was a girl who hit it at the age of 8. The only difference between hitting it early and hitting it late is when puberty stops. I stopped at the age of 15 because I started so early. Anyways, enough of the lesson on the human body.

Also, the Chuunin Exams are going to concentrate on the actions of the Sound 7, Orochimaru and to a lesser extent, Kabuto. That way, I can completely skip the first test and put a new spin on the second, prelims and third tests. Also, this chapter is going to be somewhat gory and sadistic in parts, while funny in others, so it's a somewhat mixed bag of goodies.

And if you believe that Naruto/Gaara being 'sensei's at their age is hard to believe, then what did you think of Haku being an ANBU Hunter-Nin at their age? Naturally, you just accepted it because you saw it in canon. You guys, after all the times I've said it to you and you have seen it in the anime/manga, you still can't 'look underneath the underneath'. You guys should really think about what you choose to complain about before you do.

Several people have sent me a PM or a review saying 'I really like this character or this plot idea, can I use it in my fic?' The answer is yes, by all means please do. However, there are two conditions to this; 1: Give me credit for the character/plot idea somewhere in the fic. 2: Tell me. The second isn't so much a requirement as the first, but I will try and give you ideas to keep it as close to the original as possible, such as giving you ideas on how to keep one of my OCs in character, or how a unique relationship, such as the one between Naruto & Sasuke in 'Living Behind a Mask', can be kept like it is in my fic when you put it into your own.

Finally, this is going to be an **uber** long chapter, well over forty pages long, and as such, it will take me longer than normal to complete. Sorry for the wait, but I believe this is going to be one of the single best 'dark side' chapters I will most likely ever produce, and as such, I want to get it perfect, especially since this is my '20th Birthday' Chapter. And the fights that will be played out in this chapter that are carbon copies of the matches in canon will be mentioned with a passing glance to save space. Mainly because I dislike retelling the story exactly how it was in canon. If you want to see what happens that desperately, go watch the anime. The only exception is the Sasuke/Yoroi fight.

I've also scrapped the idea of Naruto in Star Wars, as the vote was split almost fifty-fifty in the favour of 'no'. However, I've been playing Tales of Symphonia again, and I just remembered a rather appealing looking main character who is a kunoichi, a rare thing in their world/s. I'm very tempted to start a new fic when I finish off either my Chances Missed or Living Behind a Mask fics, both of which are drawing to an end. I know Chances Missed has really only just begun, but there's not exactly a great deal more I can do with it. I'll try and get it over the 100k mark, but no promises. I think Naruto would fit right into Lloyd's group of misfits. For those of you who don't know, Lloyd is the Naruto of Tales of Symphonia. Not only the main character, but the dobe of the 'academy'. Cool thing is, the 'rookie of the year' Genis, is an awesome kid. I'll get onto it after one of these fics finishes.

Thanks again to my Beta, Kyuubi no Yoko 9.

Legend:

_'...Human or Lesser Summon Thinking/Small A/N...'_

_**'...Demon or Summon Boss Thinking...'**_

"...Human or Lesser Summon Talking..."

"**...Demon or Summon Boss Talking..."**

"...SHOUTING/TWO OR MORE PEOPLE SAYING THE SAME THING/CASTING THE SAME JUTSU..."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Chances Missed:

Chapter Four:

Kidnapping & Plotting:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Evening:**

Naruto, with the help of Kabuto had figured out the distance to, and time required getting to Konoha with their current skill levels. Kabuto had also been immensely helpful with the layout of Konoha, so they would not be going in there blind, both literally and figuratively, as they needed the cover of darkness to cover them. Naruto was giving them a final briefing before they got their supplies and left.

"Guys, a mission like this has been attempted before on the Hyuuga Clan by Kumo about three years ago. Even when the kidnapper had the night to cover him, he was still caught. Only differences are he was known to be in the village, while we won't, and he was the top Jounin of his village."

Tayuya snorted.

"Kumo must be weak as shit then."

Jiroubou gave Tayuya a reproachful look, but said nothing. Naruto continued the briefing once everyone had turned back to him.

"With Kabuto's help, I figured out it will take us about seventy two hours to get there once we leave, having only an hour to sleep a day, stopping for two other short breaks a day."

No one complained. They were used to this kind of rough travel.

"Problem is, once we get there, they're pretty quickly going to find out that an Akimichi is missing and will go searching. I don't know how quick the response is, but from the second we get inside Konoha's walls, I'm giving us 15 minutes to get in, get the target, and get out. One we're out, we can't stop until we're back over this side of the border. We can't afford to fight once the mission starts, because the more noise we make, the less chance we have of getting out alive, if at all. Any questions or anything?"

No one moved, so Naruto nodded.

"We leave tonight at 8 pm. Wear standard Oto uniform without the hitai-ate. Meet out the front of the complex."

They nodded and left to start preparing for the mission. This was going to be a long six days…

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**3 Days Later, on Top of the Walls of Konoha:**

The trip here had been completely uneventful. Thanks to Kabuto's spying, they had avoided all of the ANBU and regular guard patrols. Naruto overlooked the peaceful sleeping village as he got up from his crouching position, he smiled.

"Whatever you do, don't release your seals. You know the plan. Mission: Commence!"

All six of them jumped down over the walls and began sneaking through the streets towards the Akimichi clan house, which was not too far away. They encountered no patrols, again thanks to Kabuto when they surrounded the Akimichi clan house. Naruto called over his headset.

"4 go."

"Hai."

Kidoumaru jumped up onto the roof and quickly found the ventilation shaft for the building. Kidoumaru was most suited for this job due to his unique spider like abilities. Kidoumaru crawled down the shaft and quickly found the sleeping quarters. He immediately dismissed the clan leader's immediate family and went for the lesser clan member's rooms. He looked into the next room and found a 15 or so year old black haired sleeping male Akimichi. He smiled as he brought forth the chakra infused spider webbing from his mouth and dribbled it onto the grate, surrounding it. One the webbing had hardened enough to grab onto, he lifted the grate noiselessly and placed it next to the opening. He spat four more spider strings out and attached them to four of his six hands, lowering himself into the room carefully. Once he was just over the Akimichi, he chewed some more chakra webbing and spat it directly onto the lower part of the Akimichi's face, his arms and legs, completely binding and silencing him before he even awoke. The Akimichi could still breathe through his nose, but could no longer form the necessary hand seals to perform any of his clan jutsus. Kidoumaru released two more webbing strings to pick the Akimichi up and then pulled him back up into the rather wide ventilation duct. He dared not risk placing the Akimichi down in case he started thumping the vent and caught the other's attention, so he held the overly large boy still with four arms while he replaced the grate and destroyed the chakra webbing, deleting all traces that he had been there bar the now empty bed. He silently crept back along the vent shaft and out onto the roof to see five familiar figures there. They nodded to each other and replaced the grate before leaping away, melding into the shadows. It would not be long before the Akimichi found they were missing a member, and search parties would be sent out. Once they passed the walls of Konoha with their target, Kidoumaru looked at Jiroubou.

"Oi, Jiroubou, carry this fatass, he's heavy."

Jiroubou nodded and took the still thrashing child. Naruto could see the child was desperately trying to get free, causing Jiroubou to fall behind so he could readjust and not let him fall. Naruto sighed and looked at Gaara who nodded. Gaara looked back at their target.

"Akimichi, listen well. If you cause our team any more problems, we will kill you. It makes no difference whether we get an alive Akimichi or a dead one, as long as it's in one piece when we get there. It would be very easy to control my sand to block your nasal passages. With your current rate of respiration, you would die within 30 seconds from lack of oxygen. Keep still or I will kill you."

The Akimichi weighed his options and resigned to his fate. Gaara nodded.

"Well chosen."

They continued to race away from Konoha. Naruto saw Tayuya was looking at him and was about to open her mouth to speak. He held out a hand.

"Wait."

Naruto looked at Kidoumaru.

"Cover his entire head bar his nose. I don't want him listening or lip reading if he's capable of it."

Kidoumaru nodded and spat a thick blanket of webbing around the Akimichi, leaving everything covered bar his nose. Naruto looked at Tayuya, who spoke.

"First time back in Konoha, right?"

Naruto sneered in disgust.

"I still hate the place."

Tayuya snorted.

"I can see why. There's no way in hell those shit heads can raise a ninja in a village like that. I bet their Academy Graduation exam is to make a Bunshin."

Naruto laughed, causing the other five to look at him.

"Spot on. The final test is to make a Bunshin, if I remember what that old fart of a Hokage told me when I lived there."

Gaara recounted what Suna required.

"Suna requires you to best an experienced Genin in combat."

Tayuya looked at Gaara.

"Kill them?"

Gaara looked at her.

"Killing is allowed, but not recommended."

Tayuya shrugged.

"Better than a Bunshin."

The others agreed readily. Behind them, they faintly heard the village alarm go off, making them curse.

"Shit! How did those bastards find out so quickly?"

They looked at the Akimichi. He was completely motionless and still breathing. His chakra was being absorbed by the chakra webbings, so they did not find out from that. They couldn't worry about that now. All they could do was pass over the border to political and physical safety. Naruto's eyes set into a hardened gaze.

"We're speeding up. We have an hour's lead, tops; assuming they get our trail first try. Don't use Cursed Seals unless you have to. Let's move!"

All of them sped up, not wanting to be caught by the enemy and be grilled before being put to death, none more so than Naruto. They would most likely send out the ANBU first, and then the tracking specialist clan, the Inuzuka. If the Inuzuka caught up to them, even if they escaped, they would never be able to return to Konoha again without being immediately found out. This was going to test their abilities to the limits…

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning:**

All of them had eaten a soldier pill to regain their strength and keep moving. The Sound Six and their captive had covered almost half the distance already. However, they were certain they were being followed by at least four people. Those four were rapidly gaining on them. Naruto signalled a halt. Within the minute, the four caught up. It was no surprise they were two Inuzuka and their companions. The elder male whistled in respect.

"You six aren't bad to get in and out of Konoha and escape us for half a day at your age, I'll give you that. However, your luck ends here. Hand over the kid and stand down and we might let you live, maybe even work for us if you're good."

Naruto paled visibly and had to restrain from shuddering.

"I've had enough of Konoha to last me a life time, thanks. Still, now you've found us, we can't let you report back. I have nothing against Inuzuka, but business is business."

Naruto straightened and sighed.

"Let's finish this. Jiroubou, hold onto the fatty. You let your guard down for a second, they'll take him back and we will fail the mission. The rest of us; release our first stage Kekke Genkai. We'll draw everyone from this part of the Fire Country, but we have no choice against two Jounin and their companions."

While they were on missions, their Cursed Seals were referred to as 'Kekke Genkai' to protect the secret. The Jounin's smirk turned into a calculative glance, which turned into a full blown look of horror as they began releasing the first level of the Cursed Seals. Gaara's body was surrounded by black sand with purple veins, giving him the look of a Tanuki. Naruto's fingernails sharpened into claws, his teeth grew into fangs, and his hair grew unruly while his whisker marks darkened. They stumbled back under the sheer amount of rage, hatred, anger, killing intent, but most of all from the pure smell of death and decay they exuded with their chakra. Naruto snarled at them.

"**All of those with a Kekke Genkai that is not a Doujutsu are hated, feared and detested for their abilities. We are hunted ruthlessly for what we cannot control, nor have a say in. Feel our pain!"**

The Jounin and their canines cried out as they were torn into by all six of the children, who did not listen to their cries of pain and eventually pleas for mercy. Once they were sure that they were well and truly dead, they stopped using their Cursed Seals and turned around. Naruto formed several hand seals before launching a ball of fire at the corpses, incinerating them, and turning to leave with his team.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Two Days Later:**

Apparently, they had evaded ANBU or even tracker pursuit for the lat two days. Tayuya snorted.

"Konoha really is weak as shit. Only sending two Jounins after us? They're probably shitting themselves now."

Naruto and Kidoumaru felt something was slightly off. If anything, they should have felt the presence of at least one chakra signature of Chuunin level or above, but they hadn't even detected a normal person, let alone a platoon of ANBU. As dusk on the second day settled, they found out why. Tayuya smiled.

"See? Weak as-"

"Shit? I don't think so."

They came out of the bushes to find a squad of ANBU members, and judging by the canine companion of one of them, one was an Inuzuka. Naruto silently cursed himself. He should have known they would be faster than them and would likely block all borders to cut off their escape. The Inuzuka female growled.

"You're those damn brats who killed my father and sister! You better fucking believe you're going to pay for that!"

Everyone in Naruto's party except Tayuya sweat dropped and looked at the sole female in their party.

"What are you idiots looking at?"

Naruto shrugged as he thought up a plan to try and fool their opponents.

"Doesn't matter. What does is that these guys are going to be damn tough. We really don't need this, considering we have to get passed those Oto Nins again even if we get passed here."

One of the ANBU focused on Naruto.

"Oto?"

Naruto looked at him in a disinterested fashion.

"Yeah, Oto. Didn't hear me the first time?"

The ANBU disregarded the remark.

"You do realise that even though you've killed two Jounin of Konoha, you're no match for us, right? Just give up."

Naruto laughed, catching the ANBU off guard.

"If we kicked their asses with one tenth of our power, what makes you think you'll survive?"

Naruto could see them get into battle stances and he looked at them as he smiled.

"Full second stage Kekke Genkai."

That caught the ANBU by surprised as the six kids in front of them began to release a substantial amount of power. After they had released stage one, Naruto opened his eyes and grinned ferally at them.

"**Stage One; Released. Stage Two; KAI!"**

The ANBU stumbled back from the sheer emotionally laced chakra the children were releasing. It was filled with hatred, loathing, sadness, pain, killing intent, sickness and death. They all gasped as each child's individual tattoo-like pattern glowed and covered their skin, while their other physical features morphed to resemble various kinds of demons. Naruto snarled at them as his black chakra condensed around the middle of his nine tails. One of the ANBU pointed at Naruto with a trembling finger.

"It's… It's the Kyuubi brat!"

Naruto grinned before disappearing, reappearing with his claws penetrating the ANBU's armour. It seemed that the carnage the Kyuubi was capable of causing was still fresh on their minds. However, the three remaining ANBU quickly noticed Gaara growing out of proportion. They looked up in horror at him as he towered over him and the surrounding landscape. They looked up at him.

"Wha… What the hell is that?"

Naruto grinned.

"**That, humans, is the weakest of the demon lords, the Shukaku."**

Naruto had intended to aim low with the emphasis on 'humans', but due to their massive amounts of fear, it was lost on them. All of them suddenly froze when a lilting melody wafted through the air. By now, their emotions were so out of whack, they couldn't think straight, and dispelling the Genjutsu was the last thing they thought about doing. Naruto looked back at Tayuya and smiled. She was thoroughly enjoying tormenting these ANBU with whatever demonic illusion she was using. It was then that Kidoumaru played his part and spat out his Golden Spider War Bow. This one was slightly different, though. This one had four nooks to slot arrows into, meaning four shots instead of one. All of them could tell the others were running out of chakra, so this was going to be a quick, clean kill. Kidoumaru spat out four arrows; one for each remaining ANBU and one for the Inuzuka's canine companion. He pulled all four back and shot each of them through the head, not risking letting them live for any longer than strictly necessary. The ANBU were so caught up in their terror they didn't see the arrows piercing their heads until it had actually happened, at which point they were dead. Naruto formed a massive fireball, again incinerating the  
ANBU's bodies. They say 'dead men tell no lies', but in this line of work, there was no such thing as truly 'dead men'. Naruto and the others released their Cursed Seals, weakening at the knees as they returned to their true forms, almost completely drained of chakra. Naruto motioned them forward and they jumped onto the Shodaime's head, onto Uchiha Mandra's head, and over the boarder to freedom. No one that had 'seen' them was left alive, so they were fine as long as they got out of sight of the border before they decided to rest. They'd more than earnt it, considering their mission went as close to without a hitch as physically possible.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Five Years Later, Orochimaru's 'Office':**

The Sound Seven had assembled in front of Orochimaru at his request. He smiled at them. They were no longer children. They were matured weapons of war.

"I believe it is finally time to put my plans into action. During the coming Chuunin Exams, we will invade Konoha."

The other's eyes widened while Naruto had to stop himself from hugging his leader. Orochimaru smiled at Naruto.

"I always keep my promises, Naruto-Kun. And now is the time to fulfil the promise I made to you."

Naruto had to stop himself from full blown maniacal laughter.

"Revenge."

Orochimaru's eyes lit up.

"Indeed, Naruto-Kun. And you seven will be my main pieces. For these Exams, each of you will have a specific duty. Kidoumaru-Kun, Jiroubou-Kun, Sakon-Kun, Tayuya-Chan. You four will be guarding me while I personally kill the Hokage. Naruto-Kun, Gaara-Kun: You will be leading the two parts of the invasion force. Kimimaro-Kun, you will be assisting me with the Hokage. To give us the cover we need, we are sending three Genin Teams to compete in the exams. Up until the invasion commences, Naruto-Kun, Gaara-Kun and I will be their stand in Jounin Senseis. However, for the main matches, to get close to the Hokage, I will need to assassinate the Kazekage and impose as him until the time is right to strike."

Gaara smiled slightly at the mention of murdering his father, the cause of his early childhood anguish. This was the first part of his revenge.

"Orochimaru-Sama, I wish to be present when my father is killed."

Orochimaru smiled and chuckled slightly.

"But of course, Gaara-Kun."

Orochimaru looked over each of them before smiling with a glint in his eye that promised those who stood in his path pain.

"We leave tomorrow morning at dawn."

They nodded and left the room to gather the things they needed for the invasion. Naruto fell into step beside Tayuya as he remembered what had happened over the last five years between them. For the last several years, they had steadily grown closer. Up until they had hit puberty at the age of 9, they had pretty much been close friends. Once they hit puberty, however, as Sakon had put it so well 'all hell broke lose'. Tayuya had woken up much grumpier than usual one morning not long after her ninth birthday. When Sakon asked if it was that time of the month, he immediately regretted it when she slammed him into the wall with a power that made even Naruto jealous. A few weeks later, Naruto had been talking with them when his voice cracked, making everyone but Gaara howl with laughter. Even Jiroubou couldn't help it and joined in. Naruto scowled at them and blushed beet red, mentally promising them multitudes of pain later. However, both Naruto and Tayuya were finding it rather hard to be around each other without something happening. Both of them would either catch themselves or even worse, would have others catch them staring at the other. After that, they were finding it increasingly hard to have a decent conversation without it ending in an embarrassing situation. Back in the present, Tayuya smacked him over the head with her Genjutsu, bringing him out of his trip down memory lane.

"Oi fox boy! I'm talking to you!"

Naruto snapped to attention.

"Huh?"

Tayuya snorted as she faced forward and kept walking.

"You're going to enjoy this, aren't you?"

Naruto's eyes lit up and he cracked a wide smile at the thought.

"Definitely. They'll find out what Konoha's favourite 'demon' can do when he's pissed off."

Tayuya couldn't help but smile at Naruto's expression. It was that of someone who was going to get sweet revenge and thoroughly enjoy doing it.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Several Days Later:**

Orochimaru and the Sound Seven were racing through the forests of the Fire Country to the meeting point. They slowed as the forest stopped abruptly and they came out onto a cliff overlooking Konoha from the south. Standing there was Kabuto who turned to look at them, giving his usual over friendly smile.

"Good to see you made it, Orochimaru-Sama."

Orochimaru smiled as he gave a brief glance at Kabuto before looking over his unsuspecting prey. Orochimaru had his Jounin disguise on, which he would be wearing for the remainder of the time here up till the time the Kazekage was assassinated. Naruto and Gaara had undergone some physical changes as well to keep anyone from recognising them. Naruto's hair had been died platinum blond as well as changed from 'neat' spikes to messy spikes while his whisker marks had been carefully hid with a Genjutsu that would only release once he removed it himself. He wore an Oto hitai-ate as well as a Jounin vest over black baggy pants and a long sleaved shirt. His normally piercing blue eyes were now blood red with the help of a Genjutsu. Gaara had changed his hair colour from blood red to copper red, changing his hair style from messy to neat spikes. A Genjutsu hid the marks of insomnia around his eyes while his normally teal irises were now canary yellow. He wore the same outfit as Naruto and Orochimaru.

"It's finally come. The annihilation of Konoha."

Orochimaru smirked as he looked at the Hokage Monument, or more specifically, the third face on it.

"Sandaime… I'll make you pay…"

With that, Orochimaru gave Kabuto several instructions before the bespectacled spy went back to Konoha to carry out his master's instructions. Orochimaru turned to his direct subordinates.

"All of you except Naruto-Kun and Gaara-Kun take up your positions and wait for further instructions."

They nodded and disappeared, leaving Gaara, Naruto & Orochimaru to wait for the three Oto Genin Teams to arrive. After several minutes, they came into view. Orochimaru smiled as he and his two bodyguards flickered down to just in front of the 9 Genin. They stiffened slightly before standing to attention. Orochimaru smiled and chuckled.

"We will be your Jounin Sensei's for the duration of the exams. Don't fail us."

"Hai!"

Orochimaru took position behind the centre Genin Team, which consisted of a massive boy with brown spiked hair and black eyes, a slender girl with shoulder length black hair and hazel eyes and another 'normal' sized boy with brunette hair cut into a crew cut and piercing green eyes. All three of them wore some variation of the standard Oto Genin uniform. Gaara's team was the same as Orochimaru's team; two boys and a girl. Naruto's team recognised him immediately.

"Naruto!"

Naruto's eyes widened before they narrowed. He had seen Zaku around on occasion and talked to him once, but when it came down to it, Zaku was still his subordinate.

"Zaku, while we may be acquainted, it would be best to refrain from using our first or last names here, considering how they would kill us on sight. After all, I don't want Konoha finding out I've returned until it's too late."

Zaku nodded.

"Sorry…"

Naruto shrugged it off while Dosu looked at Konoha and back at Naruto.

"This is your village of birth, Sensei?"

Naruto sneered, which they took for a yes. Zaku smirked.

"Doesn't look like much."

Naruto chuckled darkly.

"Which is exactly why I left it. Konoha's a great place if you're an average person; however, for those of us who are not 'normal', it's hell on earth."

Orochimaru smiled at Naruto's unusual description.

"How surprisingly true…"

With that, they approached the South Gate. The Guard nodded at them.

"I assume you're here for the Chuunin Exams?"

Orochimaru nodded and the 12 of them showed their passes, which the guard gave a casual check over and nodded.

"You're fine. Please enjoy your stay in Konoha."

Naruto and Orochimaru smiled as they imagined their town of birth in flames.

"We will."

With that, the three Genin Teams entered Konoha memorising everything for the attack. Naruto could sense several ninjas of Genin Level trying to pitifully conceal themselves while 'scouting' them. Naruto looked to Orochimaru who smirked. Naruto looked back to his makeshift team.

"You three go and have some fun. Don't cause trouble though."

They smirked and disappeared. Gaara looked at his team.

"You too."

They nodded and disappeared. The last team saw the look they got from Orochimaru and disappeared as well, leaving the three 'Senseis' to find a place for them to rent until it was time to commence the plan.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**That Night, in the Hotel:**

Orochimaru, Naruto and Gaara were addressing the nine Oto Genin on their real mission in their hotel room.

"Our purpose for coming here is not to have you pass the Chuunin Exams. That is merely the cover we are using."

The nine Genin's eyes widened. Naruto continued the explanation.

"While Orochimaru-Sama's and Gaara's team will compete like the other teams, my team will have a special mission. You are to find Uchiha Sasuke of Konoha and kill him. He is an obstruction to our plans and must be dealt with. The three of us will be taking part in the Second Test to complete our part of the mission. On the start of day five, either Gaara or I will check up on your team for status reports, depending on who finds you first. Do not seek us out or talk about us to anyone else in the exam, even to each other. We cannot risk being caught early. Are there any questions?"

The nine Genin shook their heads. So Orochimaru smiled at them.

"Live up to my expectations."

All of them bowed and went to their own rooms, completely unaware of how their mission was nothing but a front for the real mission.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Two Days Later:**

Orochimaru had called the Sound Seven as well as Kabuto to him just after the first exam, saying it was time to put the next phase of the plan into action. They met Orochimaru near a grave yard where Orochimaru pointed to their targets Naruto and Gaara released their partial disguises in case someone was spying on them and the Sound Seven as well as Kabuto charged out at the unsuspecting Grass Genin. Kimimaro pulled ahead of the pack and stabbed each of them through the chest with a bone sword, killing them with ease before the others got there. They admired Kimimaro's handiwork while Orochimaru came into the clearing.

"Thank you for waiting."

After he said that, Kimimaro brought a hand up to his mouth and coughed once. When he removed his hand, he saw he had coughed up blood.

'_The genetic disease is taking effect…'_

Kabuto looked at Kimimaro with mild concern.

"Is something wrong, Kimimaro-Kun?"

Kimimaro let his hand fall to his side and regained his stoic façade.

"No, nothing's wrong."

Orochimaru smiled at the work.

"Good job, Kimimaro-Kun. Naruto-Kun, Gaara-Kun, you will assist me during this part of the exam. Take their faces."

They nodded and each of the three walked up to a corpse, performing a jutsu to steal their identities. Once they looked back up, they had taken on their appearance and used a multilayered Henge to change their clothes to that of their targets. Orochimaru turned to the others.

"Scour the area to make sure we were not caught and then return to your posts. Naruto-Kun, Gaara-Kun, we're going."

All of them nodded and began performing their assigned duties, leaving the bodies of the Grass Genin sprawled there, unconcerned about others finding them as they headed to the second test.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Not too Far Away, at Training Area 44:**

Orochimaru's team arrived with many others who had passed the first exam. They were pleased to see all three Oto teams had passed the first test. Naruto looked among the Konoha Genin his own age. He didn't recognise any of them from his time in Konoha, but from Kabuto's information, he knew of them. He looked over the teams before he came to a team with a raven haired Uchiha who was the target for this part of the plan, a pink headed girl the ninfo cards identified as Haruno Sakura, and then the last was a brown haired boy with two orange tattoos on his cheeks, somewhat similar to an Inuzuka. However, the Inuzuka clan tattoos were red, as well as pointed at one end. These were orange and rectangular. Naruto smirked as he thought to himself.

'_Knowing how I would have turned out if I'd stayed, that would probably have been me and I'd probably have a crush on that pink haired fool…'_

Naruto restrained from shivering, shaking his head as he concentrated on the task at hand. The examiner sparked his interest. It was the very first person Orochimaru had given a cursed seal to that had survived. Mitarashi Anko. As Anko began trying to instil fear into the Genin, the brown haired boy on Konoha's Team Seven did an imitation of Anko and scoffed at her.

"You'll have to do better than that to scare me!"

Anko smiled sweetly, covering up her true intentions.

"Arara, aren't you a brave little one."

Anko slid a kunai into her hand from her coat sleave and in the same motion, hurled it at the boy. It whistled passed him and just cut his cheek. However, Orochimaru happened to be standing in its' direct line of travel, and moved his head out of the way. However, his hair did not move with him, and the kunai cut a strand of hair off. Naruto and Gaara smirked. Orochimaru got very touchy when it came to his hair, especially when it was cut. Most of the Genin were focusing on how Anko was directly behind the boy.

"Boys like you die the fastest. After spilling the red blood I love so much all over the place."

Anko was about to lick the blood off his cheek when she pulled a kunai out of her other sleeve and was about to stab the person behind her when said person extended to what most people would consider a disturbingly long tongue that wrapped around the kunai she had thrown.

"Here's your kunai."

Anko smiled as she took it while everyone else except Naruto, Gaara and Anko became wary of this Grass Nin.

"Ah, thank you… But don't stand behind me like that, if you want to live."

Naruto and Gaara had to practically choke themselves to keep from snorting. Her? Kill Orochimaru? That never would or could happen. Anko took the knife and Orochimaru withdrew his tongue.

"Well, I get agitated when I see blood. My precious hair was also cut, so I got a bit excited."

Orochimaru started walking back to his bodyguards, stepping up to the Haruno who gave way to him with a look of something akin to morbid fear plastered on her face. Anko smiled at the Genin.

"It looks like there are a lot of hot headed people here today… This is going to be interesting…"

Anko walked back to the gates and pulled out a stack of consent forms.

"Before I start explaining the second test, all those participating will have to sign these."

Since Orochimaru's 'team' was not here to take the exam, they tuned out as Anko explained the rules. Once they had signed the consent forms, they were called up to the stand where they were given a Scroll of Earth and told which gate they would enter from. After they got to gate 15, they squatted into a half sit half lean that would allow them to spring forward at a moment's notice. Naruto looked at his leader from under his coolie hat.

"So, we're going after the rookies first, right?"

Orochimaru looked at Naruto.

"It seems we can kill from here on, so it will be easier for us."

At one minute till 2pm, the examiners at each gate unlocked the gates and stood back. Anko counted down the last 10 seconds before she called over her headset.

"We will now begin the second test!"

The gates flew open and Orochimaru's group charged in. Orochimaru held down his coolie hat so it did not blow off from the speed they were travelling as he gave out his orders.

"Find the kids!"

Naruto knew the ones Orochimaru was talking about.

"Those three, right?"

Naruto took Orochimaru's lack of an answer for a 'yes' and they ripped through the forest at a speed that if someone had seen them would have instantly been able to tell they were nowhere near Genin level.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Several Hours of Searching Later:**

Orochimaru sensed the Uchiha not too far away and motioned both of them to wait while he used a jutsu to sink into the ground and sneak up to them to listen into their conversation while the other two stayed back.

"If the three of us get separated, don't trust anyone even if he looks like us. There's a possibility that one of them might transform into one of us and approach."

Both of his team mates agreed while the Haruno spoke.

"Then what should we do?"

"Let's decide on a password."

The third team mates groaned.

"I hate passwords…"

"If a different password is given, assume he is an enemy no matter what he looks like, got it?"

At that point, Sasuke detected the presence of Orochimaru, but did not show it.

"Listen carefully, because I'm only saying this once. First, you will ask 'The ninja song 'Ninki'?' The answer is the following: 'It is a good chance if a large number of enemies are making a scene, there are no hideouts even in a quiet place. It is important for a ninja to know the right time; the time when the enemy is tired and lets his guard down.' That's it."

The Haruno smirked.

"Got it."

The other boy mumbled before turning around.

"Yeah, got it, I guess…"

Sasuke stood up.

"I'll keep the scroll."

The third member of the team was starting to get up.

"Oi, Sasuke-"

He was stopped when a piece of bark skimmed his cheek, making a shallow cut. He pressed his hand to his cheek as a trickle of blood oozed down and then looked in the direction it had come from.

"What was that…?"

A distant rumbling and whistling sound could be heard from the direction Team Seven were looking in, which quickly got louder before they were enveloped in a massive gust of wind.

"A new enemy?"

All of them covered their faces with their arms before the wind exploded, sending a massive cloud of dust and debris high into the air that was visible from anywhere in the training ground. At the point the blast of wind originated, Orochimaru smirked.

"You two go have fun somewhere else. I will handle this alone."

Naruto smirked.

"Save some for me later."

"Sure…"

While they were in this exam, it would be wise not to reveal who they were, especially Orochimaru, so they addressed each other informally and never mentioned their names. Both Naruto and Gaara disappeared from site to go and vent some excess energy of their own on some groups of hapless Genin, leaving Orochimaru to deal with Team Seven. Naruto looked at Gaara who was smiling as well.

"You want to handle the Suna teams?"

"Yes. You will be taking care of the Konoha teams, correct?"

"Yeah. I'll see you at the tower."

Both of them split up to go and have fun with their own former village's teams, happy for a minor amount of revenge before the mass carnage that would be unleashed during the main matches.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**With Naruto:**

Naruto had gotten lucky and found a team of Konoha Genin within half an hour of searching. Not surprisingly, he didn't recognise them, so they were literally nobodies. He jumped down in front of them, making them go on guard. These kids would have been about 4 years older than him. They smirked at this lone Grass Nin who had a death wish.

"Not exactly smart taking three of us by yourself, are you?"

Naruto smirked.

"Who said I need my team mates to kill you? Both of them are having fun with other teams now."

The Konoha Genin got into defensive stances, pulling out a kunai each. Naruto sighed and formed a single hand seal, beginning to melt into the ground. The Konoha Genin looked at him in fear as he just seemed to melt into the ground like it was some sort of quicksand. After he disappeared, they began looking around to see where he would attack from. What they didn't expect was that the ground underneath them heaved upwards and a massive explosion came from underneath them, much like an oversized land mine. The Genin flew into the air before crashing back to the ground, groaning and trying to get up. They heard someone land in the middle of them and just saw the Grass Nin standing there.

"Who are you?"

The Grass Nin smirked as he walked up to the one who had talked and picked him off the ground by his collar.

"Why should I give my name to a dead man? Then again, I guess the soon to die find some sort of comfort in knowing who killed them. However, given how Konoha has treated me, I don't think they deserve even that right."

Naruto changed his grip on the Genin so that his hand was now crushing his neck. The Konoha Genin's eyes bulged as his supply of air was cut off. The other two were staring in horror and then started retching when Naruto snapped his neck. Baring witness to Orochimaru's methods of killing made this seem tame by comparison. He dropped the lifeless Genin's body to the ground and turned to the others. One of them took the out his team's Heaven Scroll and placed it on the ground in front of him and began trying to get away.

"Take our scroll… Please don't kill us!"

Naruto laughed as he approached the Genin. Naruto stopped as the Kyuubi gave him access to his early childhood memories, or at least, one in particular. It was him on his third birthday, being beaten by the regular group. And this kid was one of them. He snarled at the Genin and walked passed the scroll, grabbing the Genin and hauling him to look at his face.

"I remember you. You're one of the bastards who I'm specifically here for. This is going to be fun, breaking every bone in your body and hearing you scream in agony."

The Genin's eyes widened.

"But… I've never seen you before!"

Naruto smiled sadistically. Technically, he hadn't seen this body before, but that changed little. He saw that the last Genin was trying to make his escape. He formed a Kage Bunshin who chased after the last one and lodged a kunai in the back of his head. The Kage Bunshin dispelled, leaving Naruto to deal with the last one. The Genin looked at Naruto in pure and utter fear.

"You're not a Genin, are you?"

Naruto smirked.

"No. Technically, I never even graduated the Academy. Now, I don't want to listen to your stupid questions anymore. Let's hear something else."

Naruto took his free hand and grabbed the Genin's lower leg. The Genin screamed as Naruto gave his leg a savage twist, snapping the bone. The Genin took one last look at Naruto and fainted from the pain. Naruto looked at the Genin dead panned.

"I'm starting to wonder why I was ever scared of Konoha…"

Now that the Genin would not scream in pain, Naruto picked up the deposited Heaven Scroll and pocketed it. Although he himself would not use it, he had a feeling that his Genin team would. He placed an explosive tag on the still technically alive Genin's chest, activating the tag and walking away. He smiled as the clearing exploded, getting rid of almost all traces of the Konoha team. He leapt into the trees to look for another team to kill.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**With Gaara:**

Gaara had just finished up playing with a Suna team who provided him with several minute's worth of entertainment as he crushed each of their limbs one by one with his sand. It was now late afternoon on the second day. He had both a Heaven and Earth scroll from the two Suna Teams he had killed. He decided on what to do next when he felt a pulse from his cursed seal go off. He sighed as he pocketed the Earth Scroll and went to find Orochimaru and answer his summons.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**That Evening with Orochimaru:**

Orochimaru had deemed the last Uchiha of Konoha just worthy of receiving a Cursed Seal. He was currently sinking into a tree to get out of the area when he felt a familiar presence nearby. He opened one eye and saw who it was.

"Hisashiburi dana, Anko."

Anko stepped up and glared at her former Sensei and the bane of her existence.

"Orochimaru. You are an extremely dangerous S class wanted criminal. That's why I'm going to kill you, even if it costs me my life."

Anko flinched as she heard laughing from all around her that was not from Orochimaru. Two figures appeared in front of her target and she paled when she felt cursed seals on both of them. The broad shouldered one smirked.

"What makes you think you can kill Orochimaru-Sama when you can't even kill us?"

Anko glared at them.

"Who are you two?"

Orochimaru smiled as he reversed his merging with the tree and stood behind them, placing a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Anko, I would like you to meet your replacements. They are everything you were not; loyal, intelligent, and most of all, powerful. I would love to deal with you, but I believe I should not rob my subordinates of that pleasure. Fight them, and see what you could have been."

Anko sneered at them.

"Completely brainwashed… How pathetic."

Orochimaru laughed, causing Anko to look at him.

"What's so funny?"

Orochimaru smiled at her.

"These two are exceptional. They managed to awaken the second level seal via suicide pill at the ages of five and seven with no help from Fuuinjutsu to lessen the effects. Not only did they survive, they have complete control of their free will, but still serve me willingly."

Anko gasped at them as she began trembling despite her best efforts.

"No… No way… That's not possible!"

Gaara stared at Anko.

"I cannot see what Orochimaru-Sama ever saw in you. You bare the Heaven Seal, which is directly below ours in power, yet you waste such a gift. How stupid."

Gaara extended his hand and a wave of sand came out of his clothes, rushing straight for Anko. Anko dodged it, not realising that the other had gone until he was behind her. He stabbed her in the back and scowled as she used Kawarimi to exchange herself with a log. Anko reappeared behind him and extended a hand, releasing snakes from her sleave and entangling him, hurling him to the side. However, during this time, the other hand extended his sand again to grab her leg and throw her against the trunk of the tree, making a crater. Anko was about to get up when she felt the broad shouldered one appear right in front of her. She tried to get back up but found that the normally yellow sand had turned black and had engulfed her legs and arms. What scared her most however was that the sand was actually burning her skin, letting a deadly poison seep into her pores. She hissed as Naruto landed a savage kick to the middle of her chest. She grimaced as she looked up to see the sand retreating as both boys jumped back to Orochimaru's side.

"As you can see, Anko, this is the kind of power you could have obtained if you had stayed with me. Neither of them were taking you entirely seriously, considering they only activated the first level of the Hell Seal."

Anko pulled out a kunai and threw it at Orochimaru who caught it between two fingers, while walking forward, not breaking his stride.

"It's useless. Since you have betrayed me, becoming a Tokubetsu Jounin of another village, I would prefer it if you did not use my jutsus. Ha!"

Orochimaru formed a half ram seal, making Anko seize up in pain as she grabbed her neck. Orochimaru dropped the kunai and walked towards her, stopping right in front of her. She looked at him, just managing to talk despite the pain.

"Why… Did you come?"

"We haven't seen each other in so long and you're treating me so coldly."

"Did you come to assassinate Hokage-Sama?"

Orochimaru smirked.

"Who knows… However, I was planning on 'reserving' some outstanding ones from this village."

Anko grunted as she fell to the ground, he legs unable to hold her up any longer.

"I just gave someone that same Cursed Seal as a present a while ago…"

Orochimaru leaned down in front of Anko, much like a parent would with a child, completely mocking her.

"There is a boy I want."

Anko looked up at him, anger filler her eyes and voice.

"As usual, you just do what you want… But that boy is going to die."

"Yes, there is only a 10 percent chance he will survive, but he might be like you and not die."

Anko pressed him for information in the chance she survived.

"You seem quite interested in this boy."

Orochimaru smiled as he answered, placing a hand on Anko's face, making her shudder in disgust.

"Are you jealous? Are you still angry that I used you and cast you off like trash?"

Anko sneered at the insult.

"Unlike you, he seems like an excellent ninja. After all, the boy carried the abilities of an Uchiha. His body is beautiful, and he is capable of becoming my successor. If he survives, things will become interesting."

Orochimaru stood and stuck a somewhat dramatic pose.

"Whatever you do, do not cancel this exam."

Orochimaru began walking back to Naruto and Gaara while continuing to talk to Anko.

"Nine from my village are under your care. I'm going to enjoy this."

Orochimaru reached Naruto and Gaara and the three of them turned into flames of purple chakra and disappeared, but Orochimaru's voice still echoed through out the area.

"If you take away my joy… It will be over for the village of Konoha."

Anko gasped as another painful jolt raced through her body, trying to decide what to do with this new information.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Morning, Day Five:**

As they had said, Naruto and Gaara began checking up on their teams on day five. The first team Naruto found was his own, and was rather shocked to see that they were in bad shape. He jumped down, making the Oto Genin go on guard.

"Relax you three, it's me."

Naruto switched his voice back to his normal one, making the three get out of their stances. Naruto looked over Zaku with a raised eyebrow.

"What happened to you?"

Dosu sighed as he explained.

"Sasuke-Kun was given a Cursed Seal, which he survived and used against us. If it wasn't for his pink haired team mate, we would be dead."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. Of course, he knew he was given it, but he had to play dumb.

"Is that so? That was not part of the original plan… However, as ninja, you are expected to adapt to any situation put in front of you. You should have retreated, which I can tell you didn't. I work much like our leader does. I give people one chance. Next time, I can't guarantee what will happen to you. Take these and get to the tower. I'll see you there."

The three of them nodded as Naruto chucked a pair of scrolls to them. Naruto disappeared, leaving the three Oto Genin to walk the last leg of the journey to the tower. Not too far away, Naruto dumped his 'borrowed' outfit, returning to his Oto Jounin disguise. He destroyed the evidence, and approached the tower. He was greeted by a Chuunin examiner, who nodded at him.

"This way please."

Naruto walked around the tower to a door that had a sign saying 'Non Participant's Entrance' above it. The Examiner led Naruto through several corridors into the main arena. All eyes in the room turned to him and scrutinised him. IT seemed that Anko had indeed told them about Oto's leader and apprentices, however, they did not move to apprehend him or any others, so it seems that she had also told them about what would happen if they did. Naruto suppressed a smile as he walked up to Anko, who looked up from her clip board.

"Team?"

"Abumi Zaku, Kinuta Dosu and Kin Tsuchi of Oto."

Anko checked over her clipboard and nodded.

"They've just reported in and passed."

Naruto nodded and took his place on the other side of his disguised leader from his team mate and friend. They nodded to each other. Naruto saw that the Sensei's from four Konoha Teams, five if you included Kabuto's Sensei, one from Suna and the three of them from Oto were present. Five minutes later, the Genin came into the room. Anko looked at them.

"Line up in your teams."

All of the teams lined up. The majority of them were looking at Naruto & Gaara in shock and amusement. Naruto heard whispers like. 'How can kids like that be a Jounin?' and 'I bet Oto doesn't really have any Jounins'. Naruto smiled as Kabuto corrected them.

"There are children younger than them who are already ANBU Captains."

They didn't believe him, but Kiba intervened.

"Kabuto is right. Akamaru can sense a person's power level by smell… Whoever those two are, they're very powerful… Way more powerful than us…"

Several of the Konoha females still didn't get the message, and brushed them off until the venerable 'Uchiha' stepped in.

"Age means nothing… My brother was an ANBU captain when he was their age…"

The girls did a full 180 and took full notice of Sasuke. Their actions screamed 'naïve', letting everyone know they cared more about 'love' than being a ninja. Everyone focused on Anko as she addressed them.

"Hokage-Sama will now give an explanation of the third exam."

Naruto could care less. All he was focusing on was the Haruno fawning over the Uchiha.

'_How the hell did she survive an encounter? Scratch that, how the hell did she become a ninja at all?'_

By the time their little spat had finished, so had the Hokage's explanation. Naruto looked to the side as a Konoha Jounin appeared in front of the Hokage.

"Hokage-Sama, I, the third examiner, Gekkou Hayate will explain the rules of the exam."

The Hokage nodded.

"Please do."

Hayate turned around and coughed several times.

"Pleased to meet you everyone. Before we start, there's something I want you to do. _'cough cough'_. Compete in some preliminary matches. These matches will begin immediately, so anyone who is not feeling well and wishes to quit, please tell me. You can do so without fear of failing your team from now on."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at Kabuto, who raised his hand.

"I wish to quit."

Everyone looked at Kabuto in disbelief as Hayate looked through his clipboard.

"Let's see…"

He flipped over several pages before finding what he wanted.

"Konoha's Yakushi Kabuto, correct? Very well, you can leave."

Kabuto turned and walked out of the hall, smiling to himself. Everyone who was watching his retreating back turned back again as Hayate coughed.

"The reason for these preliminaries is that the first and second exams may have been too easy this year, but there are far too many of you left to be put into the final knock out tournament. At the final test, many very important people will be there, and we cannot afford to waste their time with endless battles. Please look up there at the score board. It will decide your fate."

Anko looked up at the closed panel and whispered into her mic.

"Open it."

The panel slid up and the board flashed before cycling through the names. Naruto smiled at the selection.

**Uchiha Sasuke VS Akadou Yoroi**

Sasuke smirked.

"Right off the bat, huh?"

Gekkou motioned both competitors forward. Both left their teams and stood facing each other.

"First match participants are Akadou Yoroi and Uchiha Sasuke. Are their any objections?"

Both opponents indicated there was none.

"We will now begin the first match. Everyone except the two fighters, please vacate the arena and stand with your Sensei's on the balcony."

Once everyone had walked up, Hayate started the match.

"First match, begin."

Yoroi surrounded his hand with chakra while reaching into his ninja pouch. Sasuke pulled out a kunai just as Yoroi hurled a trio of shuriken at him. He gave a grunt of effort as he deflected them back at Yoroi and wobbled as a pulse of pain from the cursed seal went through his body, making him collapse to the ground. He looked up as saw Yoroi was no longer in front of him. He rolled out of the way as Yoroi slammed his palm into the ground. Sasuke stabbed his kunai into the ground to stop his movement and then used it as a pivot to capture Yoroi's leg, making him crash to the ground. Sasuke skilfully placed one leg over his collar bone and the other around his arm, while using his own arms to hold Yoroi's arm in place over his chest. Yoroi smirked as he turned his palm around and grabbed Sasuke's chest and activated his jutsu. Sasuke's eyes shot open as Yoroi deactivated his jutsu.

"My stamina…"

Yoroi casually raised his arm and then slammed it down while getting up as if there was no threat to him despite his casual demeanor. He slammed his palm to Sasuke's forehead just as he was getting back up and laughed as Sasuke finally realised what was happening.

"My chakra… Are you…"

"You finally noticed…"

Sasuke's hands fell off Yoroi's arm as he lost the strength to keep them there. Sasuke growled as he kicked Yoroi in the stomach, sending the older Genin stumbling. Both got back to their feet. Yoroi reactivated his chakra draining jutsu and charged Sasuke, sweeping his hand through the air as he tried to reattach his hand to Sasuke's head. He eventually scored a near hit, just brushing one of Sasuke's bangs, making his younger opponent stumble before regaining his footing. Yoroi smirked at Sasuke, which was hidden behind his sunglasses and mask.

"What's wrong? Had enough?"

Sasuke weighed his options as Yoroi charged again, sending strike after strike Sasuke's way, which Sasuke skilfully dodged before he disappeared, much to everyone's surprise. Sasuke reappeared inside Yoroi's guard and gave him a savage kick to the chin, sending him flying before reappearing behind him as they both sailed through the air. Yoroi looked over his shoulder.

"Leaf Shadow Dance?"

"From here on, it's all original."

Sasuke placed two fingers into Yoroi's back.

"This is the real end."

Sasuke froze as the cursed seal activated, making him cough up blood. The pattern of marks that looked like a cross between clouds and fire raced across his skin. The Jounin's prepared to jump in and stop it when to their surprise, the seal's effects started retreating. Naruto could see his leader grinning hungrily at his newest target as he prepared to carry out the rest of the jutsu.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting."

Sasuke grabbed Yoroi and started a savage combo, the first of which Yoroi blocked.

"Not good enough!"

Sasuke smirked and then brought his other foot around, which Yoroi was not expecting. After several more hits, Sasuke brought his hell down and connected it with Yoroi's stomach as he landed, vastly increasing the damage done.

"Shi shi rendan!"

Sasuke rolled backwards and came to a stop, not moving. Yoroi was also in no condition to move. Hayate closely observed both of them to see if either would get back up. After several seconds, Sasuke shakily rose to a standing position. Hayate checked on Yoroi and confirmed he was out cold. Hayate looked up and coughed, pointing to Sasuke.

"First match winner; Uchiha Sasuke."

Several Konoha Genin cheered as Sasuke's Sensei poofed down to the arena and supported his student with a knee just as he fell onto his butt. There was a minor argument with the medics that ended up in Kakashi leading Sasuke out of the arena. Hayate coughed, catching everyone's attention.

"We will now choose the second match participants."

The scream flashed before cycling through the names.

**Abumi Zaku VS Aburame Shino**

Both participants' eyes locked, as did their Senseis. The female Konoha Jounin sized Naruto up while Naruto gave her an 'entertain me' look. Zaku smirked as he looked at Shino.

"Who's the other weakling?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he looked at Zaku.

"Don't underestimate an opponent for any reason. You should know that better than anyone, Zaku."

Zaku snorted at the veiled insult and made his way down to the arena, as did the Aburame.

"We will now begin the second match. Begin."

The Jounins in the room absently noticed that Orochimaru used a standard variation of Shushin no Jutsu to cover himself in smoke and disappear. They focused back on the fight. Shino remained stoic as he talked with his opponent.

"If you choose to fight me here, you will never be able to fight again. Give up."

Zaku smirked as he began fumbling with his left arm.

"Somehow, this one still moves…"

Zaku pulled his arm out and crouched.

"One arm will be enough to beat you!"

Zaku tried to bring his arm around and take a seeping strike at Shino's head, which the Aburame blocked effortlessly with one forearm. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the Aburame's chosen style of warfare begin.

"You cannot win with a single arm."

Zaku snarled as he lost his extremely short temper.

"Learn your place! Zankuuha!"

The Aburame was caught in a particularly violent gust of wind that send him sprawling, much to most people's shock in the room. Zaku smirked.

"Smoken'…"

Shino was in fact doing just that. He was literally steaming from the attack as he lay on the ground.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Not Too Far Away in Another Room:**

Kakashi was just finishing the last of the blood Kanji needed for the Fuuinjutsu he was about to perform. He stepped back and admired his handiwork.

"This is going to sting a bit, ok?"

Sasuke nodded as Kakashi performed a short chain of hand seals.

"Fuja Hoin!"

Kakashi placed his hand on Sasuke's cursed seal, making the Uchiha stiffen and then scream as the area was bathed in a while light. The lines of Kanji floated along, disappearing underneath Kakashi's hand. Once the last of them had been set in place, Kakashi lifted his hand and the light died down. Sasuke fell onto his hands and knees as Kakashi explained what he did.

"If the cursed seal tries to reactivate, the power of the Evil Suppressor will hold in, but it relies on your will as a power source. Should you ever doubt your own power, the seal will reactivate."

Sasuke nodded slightly as he collapsed, completely exhausted. Kakashi stiffened as he heard a voice behind him.

"So, you can use Fuuinjutsu now… You've grown, Kakashi-Kun."

Kakashi whipped around as the figure came into the light, bathed in an aura of disgusting purple chakra which Kakashi would recognise anywhere.

"Orochimaru…"

"I'm sorry, but I have no business with you. I do with the boy behind you, however. Please step aside."

Kakashi steeled his resolve.

"Why are you after Sasuke?"

Orochimaru smirked and decided to take this to a personal level.

"You are lucky, as you got what you wanted already."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

"You didn't have **that** very long ago. The Sharingan in your left eye."

Kakashi's eyes widened as he gasped.

"I want it too. The powers of the Uchiha, that is."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Back in the Arena:**

Everyone from Konoha looked in horror as their comrade lay on the ground, surrounded by smoke. Zaku took his hand back and smirked.

"Come on, get back up."

People soon became aware of a scurrying noise that was rapidly increasing in volume. Naruto sighed. This is how far Zaku could get. All that he had going for him was realising the situation he was in and surrendering.

"What trick are you trying to pull?"

Naruto cringed. This was making Oto look bad. He had no clue… Zaku looked behind him and saw an army of bugs coming from behind. Shino held up a single bug for Zaku's inspection.

"These are called Kikai bugs. They will attack their pray in groups and consume their chakra. If I attack you with this many, you will without a doubt never be able to fight again."

Zaku looked back at Shino and glared.

"If you do not want that, then give up. This is the suggested course of action. If you use that move from before, I will have the bugs attack you. If you use the attack on my bugs, I will attack you. Regardless of which choice you make, you cannot win in this situation."

Shino formed a Tora seal.

"You are supposed to keep your trump card until the very end."

Naruto saw Zaku's reaction and prepared to step in. He was most likely going to fight. Zaku's scowl turned into a twisted snarl of hatred and rage. Zaku began shaking as he levelled his left arm at Shino, and then ripped out his right arm, forcing it to reveal the air hole. As Naruto expected, it was in the same condition as the other one. Naruto called out to his student.

"Zaku, enough. You would do well to give up."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Back with Kakashi & Orochimaru:**

"What is your purpose?"

Orochimaru smirked and gave a convoluted answer.

"The recently made Otogakure no Sato is mine. You understand if I say just that, right?"

Kakashi snorted at the implications.

"What a stupid ambition."

Orochimaru smirked as well.

"Arara, that was blunt. But to accomplish that ambition, I need pieces to become my arms and legs and accomplish things for me."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Matches:**

Everyone in the room looked at Naruto, expecting an explanation. Zaku ignored him and began gathering chakra for his attack. Naruto snarled and warped down to the arena, grabbing Zaku by the neck and lifting him off the ground, much to everyone's horror. There were cries of 'he's strangling his own Genin!' and the like, which Naruto laughed at.

"Zaku, this punishment is extremely light compared to what you would have just inflicted on yourself. You and your team mates were already on very thin ice, and then you disregarded my orders. Do you know what the punishment for insubordination is in Oto?"

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Kakashi & Orochimaru:**

"So Sasuke is one of those pieces?"

Orochimaru smiled.

"Not quite. Sasuke-Kun, like the other two Jounins with me are supreme pieces, while the Genin taking the exam right now are-"

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Matches:**

Zaku couldn't answer, so Naruto answered for him.

"Death."

Everyone gasped as the Jounin's prepared to interrupt the death penalty when the other remaining Oto Jounin called out.

"Konoha and Suna, this is not your place to interfere. This is an ongoing Oto problem that will be dealt with as our laws dictate. Any act against us now is an act of war; a war which you will not win. Stand down or face the consequences."

The Konoha Jounin gritted their teeth and stepped back. The Oto Jounin was correct. They could do nothing without starting a war. All of the Konoha & Suna Genin were shocked and scared out of their minds that Naruto was physically capable of rendering a boy at least a year his senior immobile while he talked to him. The Jounin however, were more shocked that he would do it, rather than simply being capable of it. Zaku stared at Naruto in hatred and managed to gasp out his answer.

"What the hell… Would you know? I had him beat!"

Naruto snarled as he threw Zaku to the ground, ripping of his hitai-ate in the process.

"You have no idea what you were about to do. However, that is not the point. When I give you an order, you will follow it to the letter. I'm surprised you were even given this hitai-ate. You possess mid Genin level power, and sub Genin level analytical abilities. After these preliminaries, I will deal with you."

Naruto turned his back and a smirk touched the corner of his mouth as Zaku stood up and glared at his Sensei. Most Jounins looked at him in shock at such a blatant error on his part. Kiba snorted at him.

"What kind of a Jounin turns his back on an opponent?"

Kurenai narrowed her eyes.

"Either a very stupid one or a very confident one."

Zaku raised both arms at his Sensei and screamed at him.

'_Hook, line and sinker.'_

"Don't you dare walk away from me!"

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Kakashi & Orochimaru:**

"-Mere sacrifices."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Matches:**

Everyone looked in horror as Zaku's arms exploded at the elbows, sending the bottom half of his arms flying forward and landing on the ground, trailing blood the entire way. Everyone gasped, and many threw up at the two severed halves of the bloody appendages. Naruto turned around and sighed.

"And **that** was the exact reason I told you to give up, Zaku. Few in this room noticed until it was brought to this, so let me show you where you went wrong."

Naruto walked over to both forearms and casually picked them up, making several others lose their stomach contents. Naruto began his lecture.

"Firstly, you let both your opponent and myself sucker you into our own paces, throwing logical thinking out the window and giving way to anger. If this had been a real life battle with an enemy and not a regulated match, you would now be dead."

Naruto walked over to the screaming Zaku and showed him the palms of his now severed hands. Zaku gasped as he saw what his Sensei had meant.

"You see now don't you? That's right, this is the second part of where you went wrong. When you attempted to punch the Aburame, he placed a large portion of his bugs onto you that crawled in between your layers of clothing so as to remain unnoticed by everyone, especially you. After you blasted him with your Zankuuha, he had the bugs come back out and block your air holes to prevent you using the same attack again. You know what that means? When you tired to use it again, your chakra tubes in your arms could not expel the air, so it sought a way to escape. There was no where for it to do so, so it built up in the weakest part of the tubes, the elbows and continued to expand until it burst, and this is the result. The Aburame had indeed kept his true trump card for last. You failed the most important lesson as a Shinobi, Zaku; 'look underneath the underneath.'"

Everyone except Gaara stared at this Oto Jounin in horror and amazement that he had seen through everything they did not and analysed it, attempting to stop his student from killing himself, only getting angry when his student had disobeyed the order. They had made a completely incorrect assessment of him, however, his treatment of his student left a lot to be desired. No wonder he was a Jounin at such a young age.

Naruto dropped Zaku's arms and sighed.

"Zaku, you cannot use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu anymore, and almost all Taijutsu styles require the use of your arms. Your life as a ninja is over."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Kakashi & Orochimaru:**

Orochimaru started walking towards Kakashi, who thought over his options. Orochimaru made an exaggerated step, which caused Kakashi to go into action, powering up the Raikiri.

"Don't come any closer to Sasuke! Even if you are one of the former legendary Sannin, I can still sacrifice my life to kill you!"

Orochimaru froze for a moment before he burst out laughing. Kakashi's eyes narrowed further.

"What's so funny?"

Orochimaru smiled at him as he could taste the waves of fear rolling off Kakashi.

"What comes out of your mouth and what your body is telling me do not agree with each other."

"Nani?"

"Using that seal is pointless. While it may stop its self-manifestation, it will still seduce him with its power. He has a heart that will seek power, no matter the personal cost, as long as he believes it will help him achieve his revenge. He possesses that kind of disposition. He is an avenger."

"So you took advantage of that… Still, Sasuke won't-"

"Eventually, **he** will seek **me** out. Just as your Sensei's legacy has."

Kakashi gasped at the revelation. It was common knowledge that Uzumaki Naruto had vanished, but this confirmed those that were close to Arashi's worst fears. Kakashi growled.

"Where is he? What did you do to him?"

Orochimaru laughed again.

"He was a fine research subject, I will give him that."

Kakashi gasped at the implications. Orochimaru was well known to kill people and use them as research subjects for his twisted goals. The fact that it had happened to Naruto was heart wrenching. Kakashi deactivated the Raikiri and fell to the ground.

"Naruto… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

Orochimaru laughed as he turned to leave.

"You had your chance, Kakashi, and you threw it away. I guess it gives a whole new meaning to the term 'chances missed', doesn't it?"

Orochimaru disappeared, laughing all the way. Kakashi openly sobbed at failing his Sensei's last wish. He slammed his fist into a nearby column, smashing it to pieces.

"WHY? WHY DO I KEEP FAILING THEM? Damn it…"

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Matches:**

Naruto looked up at the Konoha Jounin and smirked in contempt as they gave him calculative glances.

'_Label, label, that's all they can do. How pathetic…'_

Naruto poofed back up to his team, who gulped and tried not to look too intimidated.

"Remember you two; You are also skating on thin ice. Don't give me a reason to do what I did with Zaku to you."

Hayate checked Zaku and coughed once before looking at Shino.

"Shousha; Aburame Shino."

The medics came onto the field, picking up Zaku's arms and placing the rest of him onto a stretcher. Gaara walked several steps towards Naruto, so now the two remaining Oto Jounins were standing in between the three groups of Oto Genin. Gaara looked at Naruto in that completely dead panned expression he was so famous for.

"I wonder what she would have said if she saw you do that."

Naruto caught on instantly to what Gaara was saying. When 'she' was used without a name, it was always Tayuya.

"What do you mean, what would she have said? She'd go off on a swearing fit and then hit me over the head, what do you expect?"

People raised an eyebrow. A woman would 'go on a swearing fit' and then hit **him** over the head and live? Gaara snorted lightly.

"I will never understand why a female our age is so violent or foul mouthed; despite the fact it is somewhat amusing."

Naruto shrugged, acutely aware that everyone was looking at them suspiciously.

"Business is business, pleasure is pleasure. They're mutually exclusive. We can ponder her actions in our own time. Right now-"

Naruto indicated towards the score board, which had picked the next set of names.

"We have business to attend to."

Gaara nodded and looked over the screen.

"Indeed."

**Oto no Bekkou VS Hyuuga Hinata**

The massive Oto Nin smiled as he hoisted himself up onto the railing which bent under his weight and jumped down, causing a tremor that was nothing short of an earthquake. Hinata cringed at the sight of her opponent. Both of her team mates wished her luck, so she gathered her resolve and went down to the arena. Hayate stepped forward.

"The third match between Oto no Bekkou and Hyuuga Hinata. Please begin."

Hinata was scared stiff. This boy was so much bigger than her, and no doubt more powerful. Despite the fact that his lower head was heavily bandaged, she could see him smiling. The boy made no move to begin, but spoke to her.

"I have heard much of the Hyuuga. Your style, Jyuken adopts the persona of 'I am a mountain, I will move for no one', correct?"

Hinata's eyes widened but nodded, making the Oto Nin smile again.

"I will educate you on what a mountain really is. Attack me when you wish."

Hinata's eyes widened.

"Ano… Are you not going to attack me?"

The Nin shook his head.

"I do not make offensive movements."

Hinata gathered her rather weak resolve and activated her clan's Doujutsu.

"Byakugan!"

Hinata gasped when she saw her opponent's pathways. They were very different from a regular persons'. They were heavily focused around the limbs and neck.

"You're…"

The Oto Nin nodded.

"Correct. Please attack."

This Oto Nin's rather formal way of talking was somewhat amusing for most people in the room. Hinata fell into her Jyuken stance and charged. The Oto Nin cocked his head to the side before falling onto his stomach and drawing his extremities inside his clothing. Hinata slowed momentarily before speeding back up and aiming a strike directly for where his lower back should be.

"Ha!"

The strike connected but Hinata cried out in pain as she drew back, her finger bones completely broken. No one was more surprised than Neji, who was watching with his own Byakugan activated. Hinata's attack had not even pierced the surface. IT was not that her attack was weak, but the shell almost seemed to absorb it and break her fingers at the same time. Everyone heard the Oto Nin's voice from inside his body.

"Jyuken is rather ineffective against me, as you can see. My first name is not just for show."

Hinata thought about what she could do. A tortoise's back and sides was always very well defended, but its underside was not. The problem was his underside was facing the ground, completely untouchable by any attacks she could throw at him. Now she was wishing she had been allowed to learn some basic elemental jutsus to complement her arsenal. Coming up with an idea, Hinata pulled out an exploding tag with her good hand before charging in. She jumped up, intending to slap the note on his and tell him to give up when she heard a faint whistling noise from below. She saw Bekkou's shirt start rustling before it exploded off him, ripping into Hinata with jets of air. Hinata screamed in agony as the chakra infused air blasted past her, ripping her skin, clothes and worst of all, making her temporarily deaf. Hinata fell to the ground and stayed still. Bekkou brought his limbs and head back out and stood up. His clothes were designed so that only the back would be destroyed when he used his Sound jutsu. Bekkou nodded at her.

"And neither is my 'surname'."

Hinata gritted her teeth as she tried to get back up. All this time, Bekkou had not even moved from the crater he had landed in when he entered the arena. Bekkou smiled.

"Some call that a Zettai Bougyo. No one has put a scratch on me yet, even though I'm nothing but a shield for my comrades. Sorry, Hinata-San, this battle is mine."

Hinata was in no position to argue and looked at Hayate.

"I give up…"

Hayate nodded and pointed to Bekkou.

"Shousha: Bekkou."

Bekkou bowed to the Hyuuga heiress before lumbering back up to his team mates who smiled at him. Hinata was taken out on a stretcher. Hayate coughed, catching the attention of everyone.

"We will now announce the next match."

Everyone looked back up at the board as it flashed and began cycling through names. Gaara raised a hairless eyebrow at the names.

**Sabaku no Ryuuketsu VS Rock Lee**

Gaara couldn't help but let out a snort, catching the Suna teams attention that were standing next to him.

"Carnage of the sand… Let's see what they think 'carnage' really is…"

Naruto saw that the Suna team was the 'royal' team, consisting of Kankuro, Temari and a seven year old brow haired boy that had a gored strapped to his back who looked like he was just holding back from committing a massacre. Much to Gaara's and Naruto's amusement, thew seven year old 'carnage' warped down to the arena using Gaara's Shushin no Jutsu. Gaara snorted.

"Seems the Kazekage still has to learn not to toy with demons…"

The Suna Jounin glared at the insult to their Kage. While absolutely true, it was still demeaning. They had tired to keep their 'experiment' that went by the name of Gaara quiet, but it was still the subject of insults directed their way on many occasions. However, Naruto was drawn back to the Konoha fighter who currently was listening to his older clone of a Sensei's lecture and scribbling it down in a notebook. Their voices were impossible not to hear.

"Lee! There's no time for that now! I don't think anyone has noticed yet, but…"

Naruto listened in. It couldn't possibly get much worse…

"That gourd is suspicions!"

Gaara for once actually sweat dropped while Naruto completely face faulted. Both recovered and looked at them to see something that was utterly disturbing. Rock Lee of Konoha was currently hugging his unnervingly ugly Sensei in a scene that made Naruto's insides crawl. He was unable to suppress a shudder, which more than one Jounin caught and frankly didn't blame him. They were surprised however when he shot every single Konoha Jounin a sincere look that screamed 'I feel so sorry for you.' Hell, not even Konoha deserved this kind of torture on a daily basis. Eventually, the 'touching' scene stopped and Lee jumped into the arena. Hayate saw they were both ready and started the fight. Lee charged his younger opponent, somewhat surprised he stood stock still as he unleashed his trademark opening Taijutsu move.

"Konoha Senpuu!"

Much to most people's shock, the gourd exploded into sand and instantly deflected the attack before reforming. Lee continued on with his assault, throwing punches and kicks that would break most people their age. This 'Carnage' of the sand could not form sand other than his own Gourd, which meant that the Kazekage had sealed a no name Tanuki into this child in a desperate bid to replace Gaara. Finally, the seven year old child went on the move and extended his gourd sand out to try and catch Lee, who back flipped several times before jumping up onto the fingertips of the Ram hand seal statue. Naruto saw the Konoha Taijutsu buff's Sensei talking to one of Kakashi's Genin before giving Lee a thumbs up.

"Lee! Take them off!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. What exactly would he be taking off?

Lee looked at his Sensei and saluted.

"Demo, Gai-Sensei! I thought that was only permitted when protecting many important people!"

Gai shoved his 'thumbs up' fist forward to stress his point.

"I don't care! I will make an exception!"

Lee smiled and laughed before sitting and pulling his orange leg warmers down to reveal weights. Most of them didn't think much of it, but Naruto thought better.

"They wouldn't make such a strict rule for removing them unless..."

The Oto Genin looked at Naruto as Lee pulled off his weights, each of which had the Kanji for 'guts' written all over it. Naruto had a 'gut' feeling this was going to be another of their wacky quirks.

"Yosh! I can move much easier now!"

Lee dropped the weights as they sailed towards the ground. When they hit, Naruto's suspicions had been confirmed.

**CRASH**

Two huge plumes of dust and stone rose into the air from the impact of the weights. Practically every single person in the room showed some kind of expression that clearly said 'what the hell'. Naruto shook his head.

"Bunch of Taijutsu freaks…"

The Jounin known as Gai put two fingers together and pointed into the arena.

"Go, Lee!"

Lee nodded enthusiastically.

"Ossu!"

Lee practically vanished into thin air, much to the majority of people's shock, reappearing behind Ryuuketsu and punching straight through the sand barrier. He disappeared again, reappearing on the other side of Ryuuketsu to again punch through the sand barrier, disappearing before Ryuuketsu could even turn his head fast enough to see him. This went on for around thirty seconds before Lee jumped up, spinning incredibly fast, landing a savage kick to his opponent's head. Ryuuketsu recovered, snarling as Lee gave him a punch to the face, sending his junior sprawling. Since Ryuuketsu's Tanuki was a lesser one, it did not have armour of sand attached directly to the skin, and so he was bleeding. He got back up and formed a rather strange hand seal, making his gourd explode into a fine sand mist. He grinned manically as he held both hands out.

"Sabaku Kyu!"

The mist of sand that now filled the arena condensed immediately around Lee into a 'sand coffin' as the jutsu name implied. Ryuuketsu seemed to struggle to close his fists, and the reason became apparent. The sand was crushing inwards in accordance to how closed his hand was. It seemed that the effects exerted from inside the sand dictated how quickly and powerfully he could crush the sand. Naruto was vaguely aware that Lee's Sensei nodded and that a very powerful force was emanating from Lee. Ryuuketsu stopped and stared wide eyed as parts of the sand coffin broke off and heavily chakra infused wind ripped out. The entire coffin quickly exploded off Lee to reveal parts of the floor were now being ripped out and disintegrated as it rose into the air. Everyone in the room stared in horror as Lee unveiled his new look. His pupil-less eyes and red skin, as well as green aura and blood red chakra wind exploding off his body gave him an aura that would make most men wet their pants. Naruto remembered a particular lesson Kabuto had given him on nature and its' ways of dealing with physical stress.

"No way…"

The Oto Genin looked up at Naruto for an explanation.

"Some plants can turn red as a final method of dealing with abhorrent amounts of physical stress… I didn't know a human could do it… That kid's going to die."

The Oto Genin's eyes narrowed and looked back as Lee bent down, unlocking the fourth gate and letting out a primal scream. Naruto stepped back. If Lee ran with this much power…

"All of you, step back and cover your faces."

They nodded and did so, just as Lee charged forward, ripping the ground up underneath him as he landed a savage blow to Ryuuketsu's chin, sending dust and stone everywhere, ripping into opponent and bystanders alike. Dosu didn't dare take his eyes off the fight as he called out to his Sensei for an explanation.

"Sensei, what is that kid doing?"

"He's opened four of the eight gates…"

The Genin had been given a brief description on the gates and what they were capable of. The fact that this kid, a Genin, could open four of them was astounding. Lee reappeared in front of Ryuuketsu and began smashing him around the arena. Ryuuketsu's blood was flying everywhere, but Lee seemed intent on not stopping until his opponent was defeated. Lee hit the floor, and then the roof, flying straight towards Ryuuketsu, who could now barely keep his eyes open.

"This is the end!"

Naruto shook his head in disbelief. This kid had already ended his chances of competing in the finals by ripping his muscles to pieces, yet he was intent on opening more gates? To answer his question, Lee was surrounded by a faint blue aura as he punched Ryuuketsu, ripping him back up with his medical tape and landing a savage punch/kick to his chest and stomach.

"**URA RENGE!"**

Naruto covered his eyes just as they collided with the ground. Everyone saw Lee roll out of the cloud of debris and come to a stop. When the cloud disappeared, they saw that Ryuuketsu was completely broken. His spine was severed, while his limbs were broken. In short, he was dead. Naruto looked at Gai, who was thoroughly distraught.

"Didn't know the kid had it in him… First kills are always the worst."

Even with his gourd protecting his impact slightly, it didn't change the fact that Lee's punches had done enough damage to kill him. Lee slowly got to a kneeling position as he looked what he had done. He looked completely distraught. Naruto couldn't blame him though. Either Lee would have died, or Ryuuketsu would have died. There was no other alternative considering how the fight had played out. Lee grabbed his heart and fell to the floor, staying completely still. He was breathing, but it was very shallow and erratic. Hayate looked over each of them.

"Both participants are unable to continue fighting; therefore no one will progress to the finals from this match."

As soon as that was said, Gai jumped down to the arena and checked on his student. Naruto didn't pay attention to the tearful speech, but instead concentrated on Gaara, who was smiling. Naruto whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

"Nothing like the real thing, is there?"

Gaara shook his head at the implication.

"Nothing indeed."

The Suna team looked distraught at their lost comrade. Gaara turned to the Suna team, who were practically on the verge of tears. Once the blood had been cleaned off the floor, Hayate coughed and looked up at the board, which flashed and began cycling through the names. It settled on two.

**Kin Tsuchi VS Nara Shikamaru**

Dosu warned his female team mate to be careful, while she was full of confidence. Naruto gave her a reproachful look which she ignored and went down to the arena, just as the pineapple haired Nara stepped down. Naruto watched the fight with mock interest. Inside, he was completely appalled that Kin had ignored the warning he had given her after Zaku's fight. When the Nara caught her and then knocked her out by making her head slam against the back wall, Naruto looked up at his chain smoking Jounin Sensei and gave a nod of acknowledgement. The term 'tensai' would not even fit this boy. A super genius would be more appropriate. After Kin was carted off, the next match was announced.

**Oto no Ken VS Yamanaka Ino**

Ino looked at the team mate of Bekkou who nodded to his team and jumped down; thankfully not causing an earthquake this time as he landed. Ino took her time as she walked down the stairs to face her opponent. They stood facing each other. Hayate brought his hand down and jumped back.

"Please begin."

Ino threw three shuriken at Ken right off the bat. Ken lazily raised a hand and in a flash of blue light, lowered it, the shuriken either broken or completely twisted beyond use as they clattered to the ground. Ino looked at the boy in shock.

"What did you…"

"I have my name for a reason. Unlike my team mate Bekkou, I am almost purely offensive. While Bekkou has earnt the nick name 'the immovable object', I have earnt the name 'the unstoppable force'. I will show you why."

Ino got into a defensive stance as Ken put his hand out in front of him and focused. His arm to shimmer and emit a faint hum. Ken charged, catching Ino by surprise with his speed and took a slice at her at her head with his hand. Ino just ducked under it, but her hair was not as lucky as he completely severed her pony tail with his hand. Ken jumped back as Ino looked in shock as her hair was falling around her.

"How did you do that? I didn't see you use a weapon…"

"My body is my weapon. I am able to turn any part of myself into a weapon by emitting vibrations through my body so fast I can cleave metal with my hands or feet. This is why I have earnt myself a title on the battlefield."

Ino began to see red

"If you have so much time to take care of you hair, may I suggest training instead?"

Ken charged forward, but was forced to stop by something clinging to his legs. He looked down to see Ino had run a trail of chakra through her hair and used it to bind Ken. Ino smirked.

"You fell for it. I'll make you give up now. Ninpou-"

Ken's eyes widened as he brought his arm blade in a downwards cut and completely severed the chakra strand just as Ino completed her jutsu.

"-Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

Ken jumped out of the way as Ino's body slumped to the ground. Ken looked at her suspiciously.

"Some kind of soul or mind transferring jutsu?"

Ken didn't waste any time as he reappeared right behind her prone body and held a vibrating hand just above her neck and looked at the examiner.

"I don't know how long she will be out for, but this match is mine."

Hayate waited for several seconds, but Ino did not get up, so he straightened and pointed to Ken.

"Shousha, Ken."

Ken walked back up to his team mates while Ino returned to her body after 30 or so seconds, she looked around and sighed, seeing that she had lost. She got up and trudged back to her team mates. Both her team mates and her Sensei said she had come up with a very good plan at such short notice. Naruto made no vocal mention of the fact that her 'very good plan' on such short notice would have still ended up with her dead in a real life situation. If Konoha Genin's confidence was so low as to have to need that, they were a generally weak bunch indeed. Hayate coughed, and the screens began cycling again.

**Temari VS Tenten**

Temari saw red when the female of Lee's team was chosen and she smirked at her. Temari jumped down and stared at the Konoha kunoichi with a smile that promised pain. Tenten took her place opposite Temari as Hayate started the match.

"Hajime."

As Naruto predicted, Temari toyed with her opponent before going in for the kill. After unleashing a Kamaitachi, Temari placed her closed fan on the ground, sticking upright. Tenten fell out of the chakra infused cyclone and landed back first on the butt of Temari's fan. She coughed out blood and fell limp, much to Temari's amusement.

"That was boring. Very, very boring."

Temari threw Tenten back towards her 'side' of the arena and smirked as she hit the ground, being cut by her own weapons before coming to a stop at the wall. Hayate coughed and pointed at Temari.

"Since her opponent is no longer conscious, Temari is the winner."

Temari smiled as she hid behind her fan and disappeared, reappearing with her remaining team mate and Sensei. After Tenten's weapons were cleared and she was carted off, Hayate started the selection for the next match.

**Kankuro VS Tsurugi Misumi**

Gaara looked at his former brother disdainfully as he walked down to the arena with his opponent close behind him. Once Hayate had confirmed that both opponents were ready, he started the match. After what most of the Genin thought was a cruel, but certain victory when Misumi broke Kankuro's neck, Kankuro's face crumbled before revealing that 'Kankuro' was not the Kankuro they were expecting, but a puppet, which the real Kankuro was controlling from the package that was formerly on his back. Kankuro smirked as he got his own 'personal' revenge for his half brother's death at the hands of Konoha.

"You'll be even softer if I break your bones, right? I wonder how soft you'll become if I break your spine and neck?"

To illustrate his point, Kankuro's puppet snapped Misumi's neck and back before releasing the chakra strings, leaving the now dead Konoha Nin and puppet to fall to the ground. Hayate coughed and pointed to Kankuro.

"Shousha; Kankuro."

Kankuro smirked as he grabbed his puppet and walked back up to his team. Hayate started the selection process for the next match with his cough.

**Oto no Aamaa VS Shinta**

Naruto looked across to the Konoha participant from Team Seven.

'_So, it's time to see what my 'replacement' can do…'_

Shinta seemed far too excited to be able to understand the situation he was in. Aamaa stepped up and stared casually at his opponent who raced down, eager to fight. Naruto sweat dropped.

'_Would I have been like that? How frightening…'_

Hayate looked at both of them before brining his hand down to start the match.

"Please begin when ready."

Shinta 'hmph'ed and smiled confidently.

"There's no way you can-"

Shinta didn't even get to finish his sentence as Aamaa charged in with frightening speed and landed a shoulder charge to Shinta's sternum, sending the boy flying back to impact against the wall. Aamaa looked at Shinta in a calculative way.

"Win? It is not a certainty that I will win, however, it is very likely. It is also possible for you to continue this fight. My team mates and I work in perfect synchronisation with each other, to the extent that we are almost extensions of each other. However, if separated, we are all still capable of fighting. Now, will you stand up, or will you submit? I do not mind which you chose."

Now people could see why each of the three from this boy's team was so unique and specialised. They worked as a sword-shield-armour combination, as their names suggested. Shinta slowly got to his feet, panting. Aamaa nodded and got into a defensive stance, making a beckoning motion with his hand. Shinta charged in, growing wary when Aamaa closed his eyes and began to let out a constant, very well modulated hum. Shinta gasped and grabbed his ears as he fell to the floor in obvious pain. Aamaa stopped and looked at Shinta, who looked back at him with a scared look in his eyes.

"What the hell did you just do?"

Aamaa began an explanation, keeping an eye on Shinta the whole time.

"Do you know what sound is?"

Shinta stared at him with an 'are you stupid' look, which Aamaa ignored and continued.

"Sound is merely vibrations. However, in order for sound to travel, it requires a medium of some kind, such as air. Water is a far better medium for sound than air is. A human body consists of around 70 percent water, making it an ideal amplification and transmission device for sound. I simply use my chakra to redirect my hum through my entire body, turning it into an amplification device, which I am then able to direct at any target I chose, using my chakra to do so. Since I use my chakra to amplify and direct my attacks, my body is unharmed, however, to anyone who is anything but a clone of myself, it can be a minor deterrent, or a force which can rip your entire body apart, depending on how much chakra I decide to use in the process. Now how will you fight?"

Most of the Jounin in the room looked at Aamaa in amazement. To be able to amplify and direct the vibrations of one's vocal cords should be a physical impossibility. Oto wasn't called that for nothing. Shinta rose shakily and charged, pulling out a kunai and hurling it at Aamaa, who held out both hands in front of him, making the kunai hit some sort of invisible barrier and drop to the ground. Shinto did not stop as Aamaa let out a slightly louder hum, making Shinta grab his head and scream in agony, rolling around on the floor before passing out. Aamaa looked at Hayate, who checked Shinta's vitals before standing up.

"Aamaa's opponent is incapacitated, making Aamaa the winner."

Aamaa walked back up to his team mates while Shinta was carted off. Now, there was only four Oto and Four Konoha Nins left to compete. The screen flashed and cycled through to the next pair of names.

**Dosu Kinuta VS Akimichi Chouji**

As Naruto predicted, Dosu was able to win with ease, ending the fight by getting the Akimichi stuck in the wall while he transmitted sound through out his body, essentially cooking him.

"Like Aamaa, I can transmit sound through other's bodies, just like I have with you. Ear plugs or not, your body is nothing but a giant ear, which I have taken advantage of."

Hayate called the match.

"Shousha; Dosu Kinuta."

Once Chouji had been taken away, the next match was announced.

**Oto no Rai VS Hyuuga Neji**

Neji stepped down and faced off against his opponent. Rai was very familiar with the Hyuuga Doujutsu, as they had been thoroughly briefed on the main aspects of Konoha during their 'history' lessons. Neji smirked confidently.

"You should give up. Destiny has brought us to this battle, and fate has dictated I shall win."

Rai raised an eyebrow at this completely arrogant statement.

"Tell me something. Did this 'fate' tell that you would be blinded by the end of this match?"

Neji scowled at the implications, settling into his clan's trademark Taijutsu stance. Hayate began the match as Neji charged in, Byakugan active and going for a strike to the heart to finish him. However, his opponent made several hand seals and announced his jutsu.

"Ninpou, Rai no Genwaku!"

People covered their eyes and ears as the booming sound and blinding light of crashing lightning echoed through out the arena. When people opened their eyes, they saw Neji looking around desperately with his Byakugan activated. Rai smirked.

"No point in looking around like that. This isn't a Genjutsu, nor was their any lightning. Seems that all powerful Doujutsu of yours isn't all that great."

What Rai was not ready for was Neji smirking as he charged in, landing a blow to the Oto Nin's heart. Rai coughed up blood and looked up at Neji in shock.

"How… How did you?"

Neji smiled.

"If I cannot follow you with my eyes, I will follow you by your voice. It is true that I am temporarily blinded because of my proximity to the jutsu, but I have learnt to exact location of every single Tenketsu in the human body, and judging by the location your voice was coming from, I attacked where the heart should have been. As I have said, fate has decided the outcome of this match."

Rai dropped to the floor and stopped moving. Neji smirked and straightened, waiting for the match to be called. Hayate coughed, before pointing to Neji.

"Shousha; Neji."

The medical teams carted Rai away, while the last medic checked Neji's eyes and used a simple healing jutsu to clear his vision. Neji walked back up to where his Sensei was, completely wrapped up in his victory and praising looks from Konoha. Hayate coughed, catching everyone's attention as the board began cycling though the names.

**Genji Udo VS Inuzuka Kiba**

Kiba walked down to the arena, as did Udo. Both of them faced off, while Hayate started the match.

"Please begin."

Kiba ducked down into a beast-like stance and snarled at his opponent.

"I don't know what kind of attacks you use, but I'm not going to let you use them!"

Kiba disappeared, much to his opponent's shock. Udo did not have time to react as he was punched in the gut, sending him flying back and crashing into the wall, before he hopped back out and charged Kiba, who charged straight back at him. Both of their fists impacted each other's faces, sending them sprawling. They got back up and tried again, ending in a much similar result as the last exchange. Kiba snarled as his dog jumped on top of him.

"Let's do it, Akamaru!"

Akamaru barked an agreement as Kiba performed his two trademark clan jutsus.

"Gijyuu Ninpou: Shikyaku no Jutsu!"

Kiba was surrounded by an aura of chakra as his fingernails extended into claws. Once the transformation had finished, he smirked.

"Gijyuu Ninpou: Juujin Bunshin!"

Both of them were covered in a cloud of smoke, and when it cleared, there was no longer Kiba and his dog, but tow Kibas. Udo raised an eyebrow at this, but quickly got into a defensive stance.

"Geez, you don't talk much do you? That doesn't matter, this is the end! Gatsuuga!"

Both Kiba and the Kiba 'clone' jumped into the air and began spinning fast enough to turn into grey tornadoes, which were directed at Udo. At that point Udo spoke for the first time.

"This is why I do not speak often."

Most people in the room froze as their sense of hearing was completely disorientated from the sound of Udo's voice. Both Kiba and Akamaru went drastically off course, both of them slamming head on into the walls and falling to the ground. Udo ran up to the temporarily phased Kiba and held a kunai to his neck. He smirked and spoke again.

"Checkmate."

Kiba froze as he suddenly got the worse case of vertigo he had ever received and fell onto all fours bringing up his stomach contents. Udo stood up and looked at Hayate, who pointed to Udo.

"Shousha; Udo."

Udo walked back up to his team mates, who nodded at him. There was no need to choose the next participants, as there was only two left. Both females stepped up as Hayate began to match.

"Final match; Begin."

Sakura took out several shuriken and hurled them at her black haired opponent. She smirked and jumped to the side. Sakura ran after her, creating two Bunshins which tried to flank her. Sakura exploded her Bunshins just before she got to her opponent, creating a smoke screen. She came out of the smoke screen and punched where the Oto kunoichi was supposed to be, but was shocked to find she was not there. However, she did hear a whistling sound from her right, and just turned her head enough to see her opponent out of the corner of her eye charging in with speed that put Kiba to shame. Her fist extended and grabbed the back of Sakura's neck.

"Like my friends up there, I am able to use sound to attack. My methods are not pretty. So, unless you want end up brain dead, I suggest you give up."

In this position, Sakura really didn't have a choice. She turned her head slowly and looked at Hayate.

"Do you wish to give up?"

Sakura, not trusting her voice nodded.

"Shousha: Misato."

The dark brown haired girl let go of Sakura's neck who gasped as her lungs flooded with much needed Oxygen. Hayate sighed in relief now that his job was essentially over.

"This concludes the third test's preliminary matches. Could all Genin who have progressed please line up down here? We will now give an explanation for the third exam."

The 11 present who had passed came down and lined up in front of the three examiners and the Hokage. After they were given an explanation as to where and when it would be held as well as why it was so important that it be held, Anko came around to them and let them pull a numbered piece of paper out of the box she was holding. Once all of them had their numbers, they were asked to call them out.

Misato: 2

Udo: 7

Dosu: 11

Aamaa: 1

Ken: 10

Bekkou: 6

Neji: 5

Kankuro: 3

Temari: 8

Shikamaru: 9

Shino 4

Anko nodded after she heard their numbers.

"Which would mean that he's 12… Ibiki, you finished?"

Ibiki nodded and turned around his clipboard, showing them the line up for the matches. The nodded as they saw how they were lined up. Some of these matches should be interesting indeed… The Hokage told them to train or rest for the next month and report to the stadium before dismissing them, leaving them to their own devices.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** All I have to say is holy cow. This is by far the longest chapter I've ever done… just shy of 50 pages and over 18 000 words. Well, enough of this, I'm going to sit back and enjoy my birthday. Later everyone!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	5. Commense Mission

**A/N:** Yo! Apologies again for lack of updating, but a hell of a lot has happened. I've fully moved out of home, I've got a girlfriend, I've been hit by a car, and loads more. Anyway, I want everyone who reads my fics to read the note below. It's actually important for once. Shock horror….

**UBER NOTICE:**

I have had an overwhelming number of requests to do an epilogue/sequel to Living Behind a Mask, and so I will. The majority of them have asked for a time skip on the order of at least one year, so I'm going to give you several options as to how long it will be. However, I'm not going to post them here. In a vain attempt to get people to visit my topic on the Narutofan Forums, please check my profile for the link to the topic where I will post the options available. I'll even make it easier and post the poll again in my very first post so you don't have to click on the counter for page 10…

Just some basic changes to the Chuunin exam finals from canon that need to be covered: Suna is not part of the invasion because Oto now have Gaara, and therefore the Kankuro/Shino fight will take place during the exams, meaning Kankuro will not forfeit. Apart from that, it's all good. I'm not really going to concentrate on the Sarutobi/Orochimaru fight, because that's going to happen exactly as it did in canon bar the obvious revelations of Naruto's 'fate'.

As per normal, thanks to Kyuubi no Yoko 9 for beta-ing.

Legend:

_'...Human or Lesser Summon Thinking/Small A/N...'_

_**'...Demon or Summon Boss Thinking...'**_

"...Human or Lesser Summon Talking..."

"**...Demon or Summon Boss Talking..."**

"...SHOUTING/TWO OR MORE PEOPLE SAYING THE SAME THING/CASTING THE SAME JUTSU..."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Chances Missed:

Chapter Five:

Commence Mission:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Up on the Balcony:**

Naruto sighed, looking at his subordinate/friend and nodded.

"Let's get out of here."

Gaara nodded and both of them started walking towards the entrance. Both of them had important missions to either begin or prepare for. They walked out the door and smiled, disappearing in a burst of speed into the forest.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Not Long After:**

Naruto and Gaara were continuing to jump through the trees with practiced ease when both of them detected others and came to a stop. The others did not show themselves, so Naruto called out to them.

"You know, just because we're still kids doesn't mean we're naïve. Why don't you stop shadowing us and come out?"

From behind them, four ANBU members of Konoha came out and nodded at them.

"We had no intention of following you. We're being assigned to clean up the mess from the second exams. However, we did not expect the preliminaries to take so long."

Both boys caught onto what the ANBU were implying. Gaara shook his head.

"Some Genin in the matches pulled out some very… Interesting moves that practically destroyed the floor. That delayed things for quite some time."

The ANBU nodded. Lee's chakra spike from opening the gates was practically impossible to miss even out here.

"I see, Sorry to disturb you."

Naruto waved it off and the ANBU continued onwards with whatever task they had been assigned. Naruto and Gaara continued back towards the nearby gates that surrounded the forest. Once they reached them, they saw Kabuto waiting for them nearby. He smiled at them and raised a hand in greeting.

"Good to see you two. Gaara-Kun, you mission will begin tomorrow morning. Naruto-Kun, I have been asked to bring you with me."

Naruto nodded and they followed their elder companion at a distance so as not to appear too suspicious once they reached the edges of Konoha. Once they had arrived at the place Kabuto led them to, they saw the other members of the Sound Seven as well as Orochimaru there. Orochimaru smiled, chuckling to himself. No doubt he'd just found some sacrifices if the look on his face said anything. Orochimaru looked at Gaara.

"Gaara-Kun, tomorrow morning, we will be leaving to assassinate the Kazekage. Kimimaro will be coming, but only as backup. This is part of your revenge I promised you, and I will keep that promise."

Gaara bowed to Orochimaru.

"Arigato, Orochimaru-Sama."

Gaara rose again as Orochimaru turned to Naruto.

"Naruto-Kun, I have something special planned for you this next month. Not surprisingly considering your past, your understanding of human psychology is very accurate. I want to put a show on for Konoha that they will never forget, with you as the main star of the play. It will be well worth the effort, I can assure you."

Naruto smiled widely and bowed as well.

"Arigato, Orochimaru-Sama."

Orochimaru turned to the other four and let a slight smirk touch his pale lips.

"Jiroubou-Kun, Kidoumaru-Kun, Sakon-Kun and Tayuya-Chan. You will be flanking me as the Kazekage's guards. Once the invasion commences, you will use the new jutsu I have taught you to keep the regular Nins out of the way. Kimimaro-Kun, you will be with me, assisting me in taking out the Sandaime. Don't worry, Naruto-Kun, both you and Gaara will be leading the two branches of our forces yourselves once you have finished toying with the old man's mind. That is all."

They nodded and disappeared to their assigned tasks. However, both Naruto and Tayuya stayed behind. Tayuya stared at Naruto, trying to keep the concern from her face.

"Fox boy, if you die here, I'm going to drag you back from hell and make sure I kill you myself, got it?"

Naruto smiled and leant up against a tree.

"Don't worry about me, Tayuya-Chan. I'll be fine."

Tayuya snorted and started walking past Naruto to where her team mates were waiting. However, she was too busy worrying about her blond friend than the ground in front of her, so she did not see the raised tree root that she stubbed with her toe, pitching forward and straight into Naruto who was leaning against the tree. He instinctively brought his hands up to grab her and make sure she didn't hurt herself, however, one hand landed on her side while the other landed somewhere he'd rather it didn't. Once Tayuya recovered enough to realise her situation, both her and Naruto blushed bright red. He took his hands back quickly and looked down at the ground, mumbling an apology while Tayuya readied her flute to give him a massive strike to the head when Sakon appeared in the clearing.

"Tayuya, we have work to do, what's-"

Sakon took stock of the scene and his face morphed into a grin and chuckled.

"So, the cat's out of the bag. You two really are more than good friends. Oi, Ukon, looks like we won."

Ukon looked up from his position on the back of Sakon's neck, smiling.

"Yeah. We can use the money right about now as well."

Both Naruto and Tayuya glared at Sakon.

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!"

Sakon laughed, looking back at them with literal dollar signs in his eyes.

"Sure, sure. Well, I'll see you back there after you two have finished making out. Don't take too long."

Sakon disappeared, laughing all the way to the bank so to speak before Tayuya or Naruto could do anything. Tayuya was visibly fuming, but managed to catch Naruto as he tried to slip away.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?"

Naruto looked around for some method of escape but froze when he felt Tayuya staring at him, mere inches from his face.

"If you ever do that again, I'll castrate you, got it?"

Naruto nodded quickly, making Tayuya smile.

"Good. Now I have to teach those other freaks a lesson."

Tayuya disappeared, leaving a very emotionally confused Naruto behind. Naruto thought over what had just happened.

"Wow… She should really stop wearing such modest clothing…"

Naruto had to practically slap himself before he was able to think clearly. With that, he proceeded from their meeting point several kilometres outside Konoha back to their hotel room. Or, at least he would have if he didn't decide to look over Konoha from atop the Hokage Monument. He jumped up the cliff face before coming to rest on the Yondaime's head, looking out over the village. Despite the fact he detested this village with all his heart, he still had to admit it was quite a sight from here. He only noticed the presence of someone behind him when a twig broke and mentally cursed himself for zoning out in the middle of enemy territory. The person came up behind him, stopping several meters behind him.

"Mind if I join you?"

Naruto shrugged.

"This isn't exactly my village, so far be it for me to tell you where you can and can't sit."

Naruto decided that a small information session gathering session could be very beneficial if he played his hand correctly. The man walked up slowly and sat down next to Naruto. Naruto noticed then that it was Hatake Kakashi.

"Quite a sight, isn't it?"

Naruto nodded slightly in agreement.

"It is. Do you visit this place often?"

Kakashi continued looking out over the village as he answered.

"From time to time."

Naruto decided to take the plunge and start gently probing for information by reverse psychology.

"Konoha seems nothing like Oto…"

Kakashi turned his one eye on Naruto questioningly.

"How so?"

"Konoha just seems so peaceful and relaxed. Oto is still going through its teething stages, so it's hectic."

Kakashi nodded. It was well known that when some of the newer villages were setting up that things were very busy, people were tired and tempers flared. Oto was apparently experiencing that right now.

"Our Shodaime and Nidaime managed to work in tandem to sort most of those problems out. It's amazing that only 13 years ago most of this village was in flames…"

The Kyuubi incident… It was highly unlikely that anyone had not heard of that incident, or at least the modified version of it.

"Kyuubi, right?"

Kakashi nodded sadly. It seemed to be a sore point with him, so Naruto would have to tread delicately.

"From what I heard, many died trying to kill it, including the Yondaime…"

Naruto did not miss the microscopic wince that Kakashi failed to hold in.

"Yes… We lost many strong shinobi to that monster…"

Naruto sighed and looked down at the head of the Yondaime below him.

"From what I've heard, Yondaime managed to kill it, but died at the same time… No matter where I read up on it though, the word Shinjutsu was never used…"

Kakashi winced quite visibly. Naruto had to stop here, or else risk ruining everything Oto was working towards.

"I'm sorry… I didn't realise it was such a delicate subject with you…"

Kakashi shook his head and stood slowly.

"It's alright… It's just the Yondaime was my Jounin Sensei, so I don't like reliving that day…"

Naruto had not been expecting that. Not only was Kakashi the Yondaime's student, but he had given that information freely… It may be that the face mask Naruto was using was close enough to the original Naruto that Kakashi was put off and surrendered more information voluntarily than Naruto would have otherwise gotten. Naruto shook his head as he stood.

"I should have been more sensitive about this subject… If you'll excuse me, I've got to check up on my students."

Kakashi nodded and watched Naruto hop down the monument and off towards the hospital.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Two Weeks Later, Between Suna & Konoha:**

The Kazekage stared in horror as Gaara released his full stage one form and engulfed him with his burning, poisonous sands and lifted him off the ground.

"**You never were one to learn from your mistakes. Now, I'm going enjoy taking you life from you, inch by inch, just as you did to me. Let's start with the fingers."**

Gaara brought one of his fingers into his palm, crushing two of the outer most parts of the black sand coffin, making the Kazekage scream in pain. Gaara laughed maniacally as he thought of what to do next.

"**And now, the feet and toes."**

Gaara brought another finger in, making the Kazekage cry out again. Gaara then released the Kazekage, who fell unceremoniously to the ground, breaking several more bones. Gaara smiled and walked up to the now incapacitated Kazekage in his half demon form.

"**I would enjoy completely breaking you, but apparently, I have to preserve your body to a degree that it's salvageable. So, how about I just char and poison your insides, as well as suffocate you?"**

A muffled scream could be heard from the little trench they were in as Gaara finally ended his father's life and smiled at the now well and truly dead form of his 'father'. Orochimaru smiled and bent down to inspect it.

"Well done, Gaara-Kun. This is perfect."

At that point, they were aware of Kimimaro coughing several times and then falling to the ground. Kabuto ran over and checked on their fallen comrade.

"Kimimaro-Kun, are you alright?"

Orochimaru looked at Kimimaro in regret.

"So, this is your limit, Kimimaro-Kun…"

"I'm sorry, Orochimaru-Sama…"

With that, Kimimaro passed out. Not long after, Sakon, Kidoumaru, Tayuya and Jiroubou arrived and saw Kimimaro on the ground. They got a very deep sense of satisfaction that the 'invincible' Kimimaro was not so invincible after all. Orochimaru copied the face of the Kazekage and then took a pre made Kazekage robe from Kabuto. Once the four newest arrivals had taken their disguises, Kabuto was left to take Kimimaro back to Oto while Orochimaru and his 'two' guards returned to the Suna caravan; Gaara used his trademark Suna Shushin no Jutsu to get out of sight and head back to Konoha once he had resealed his cursed seal.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Two Weeks Later, Konoha Stadium:**

Everyone had turned out who was given leave from Konoha so they could see the last Uchiha fight. Many important people from other villages were also present, chatting excitedly about one contestant or another, placing wagers on who would win. However, more than one person noticed that the Uchiha was not present among the contestants present in the stadium. The Hokage looked up as he felt another presence join him in the Kage Box.

"Oh, look who we have here; Kazekage-Dono. Please, take a seat."

The Kazekage nodded in thanks and took the seat beside the Hokage that was offered to him. The Hokage smiled warmly at his Suna counterpart.

"It's a long trip from Sunagakure to here, you must be tired."

The Kazekage gave a slight shake of his head.

"It was a refreshing change from the paperwork. However, I'm glad the Chuunin Exams are here in Konoha. It would be a bit tough on someone of your age to travel to Suna, Hokage-Dono. Perhaps you should choose a Godaime soon?"

The Hokage rolled his eyes at the mention of the bane of all Kages and leaders in general, the dreaded paperwork and chuckled at the jab at his age.

"Don't start treating me like an old man now, Kazekage-Dono. I'm still considering doing this job for another five or so year before choosing a replacement."

The Hokage stood up and walked to the railing in front of them, looking back at the Kazekage.

"Shall we begin the matches?"

The Kazekage made no indication he was going to stop the Hokage, so Sarutobi turned and faced the crowd, taking in a deep breath and projecting his voice.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the annual Chuunin Selection Exams. We will now begin the main matches with the 12 Genins who have progressed from the preliminaries. Please sit back and enjoy this fine display of young talent."

There was clapping and cheering from the crowd as the Hokage took his seat, the Kazekage looked over at the Hokage, one eyebrow slightly raised.

"If there are twelve participants, it seems one is missing…"

The Hokage nodded slowly while the first two participants were told to face off and the rest to take the contestants box. Misato smirked at her opponent.

"I've been looking for a rematch to our last spar, Aamaa."

Aamaa smirked at Misato.

"I would very much like that. I would like to see how far you have progressed."

Misato smirked back and got into a defensive stance, as did Aamaa. Genma readjusted the Senbon needle in his mouth and looked at both of them.

"The first match between Aamaa and Misato of Oto, begin!"

The crowd erupted into a chorus of cheers as both Genin readjusted their footing. The cheers quickly died down, leaving the two standing, seeing who would break first. It seems Misato was the first to break, flicking open her shuriken holster and hurling a trio of shuriken at Aamaa who pulled out a single kunai and blocked them. However, Misato used this time to flicker behind him and reach a hand to his neck. However, she stopped when she saw Aamaa make a slight flick of his left wrist, throwing a hidden kunai backwards at Misato's stomach, forcing her to dodge. She landed several meters away and smirked.

"You've gotten better."

Aamaa nodded.

"As have you, Misato. Shall we start getting serious?"

Aamaa took the fact that Misato flickered forward, trying to get a hand on his body to enable her sound assassination jutsu as a yes, however, she was shocked when Aamaa closed his eyes and started humming.

'_He knows I move far too fast for him to hit me with that…What is he thinking?'_

Misato found out when she flickered several more times, and reached forward to place a hand on Aamaa's neck. She was shocked that in a one meter radius around him, he was projecting and compressing his sound into a meter wide barrier around him, preventing any and all physical attacks from touching him. Misato cried out as he hand was ripped into by the powerful sound waves and jerked back, her hand and forearm steaming. Misato glared at Aamaa who had stopped his humming and had turned to face her, a slight smile on his lips.

"I have not spent this last month idling. This is one of the few new jutsu I have created. It is perfect against all forms of Taijutsu, including yours. There may or may not be a weakness in it, but I have yet to find it. I know you are also capable off using Ninjutsu, however, with your right hand in its current condition, forming hand seals would be difficult, if not impossible. Do you wish to continue, or do you wish to forfeit?"

Misato sighed and straightened.

"I'm impulsive, but I know when a match is over. Examiner, I'm forfeiting."

The examiner nodded and pointed towards Aamaa.

"Misato has forfeited, making Aamaa the winner of the first match."

There were cheers and clapping as the medics came on to check Misato's hand. They applied a quick healing jutsu to it and led her to the infirmary. Aamaa walked back up to the contestant box, where the other Oto Nins congratulated him, while the other nation's Genin were wary of him. Despite the fact that they were just Genins, they were told not to hurt each other when they fought too badly so as to be able to help with the invasion. Genma looked up to the contestant box, still chewing his Senbon.

"Second match contestants, Kankuro and Shino, you're up."

Both boys looked at each other and walked down into the stadium together, not saying a word to each other. Finally, they entered the arena and stood facing each other. Genma looked at both of them and nodded.

"Second match between Kankuro of Suna and Aburame Shino of Konoha, begin."

Kankuro snapped his fingers up into a position like he was holding a large object in his palm and attached his chakra strings from that hand to Karasu and then attached his second hand's strings to it, spinning it from its white bandage casing on his back so it was draped over him. Shino spread his outstretched arms in front of him, releasing his bugs. Kankuro brought his right hand slowly forward and then threw Karasu at Shino arms flailing with a clicking, rattling noise. Shino took out two kunai and struck the puppet in the chest and forehead, but Kankuro used a quick Kawarimi to replace it with a log. Shino was not at that point expecting the puppet to appear to his direct left, and was in no state to dodge the duo of hidden knives Karasu launched from its mouth, which struck him square in the heart and forehead. Kankuro smirked and reigned in his puppet.

"Gotcha…"

However, what he was not expecting was for Shino to burst into bugs, which scurried away, into the ground and in any hiding place they could find. Kankuro's eyes narrowed as he scanned the area. It was then he felt the air being rapidly displaced too his right, indicating something large was coming at him fast, so he dodged seeing Shino missing a straight jab with his right fist at his own head. Kankuro smirked and jumped into the trees off to the side.

"So, you figured out a puppeteer's weak point! You're not bad!"

Shino jumped up into one of the nearby trees, dodging Karasu. However, what shocked him was that the puppet's forearm opened to reveal a heavily poisoned blade that struck the trunk, leaking poison into it and staining the area around the impact mark purple. Shino backed up against the trunk of another tree as Karasu spun his other arm forward and released another blade from it's forearm at Shino's head, who dodged it by several centimetres before jumping up over the branch and down into the foliage. Kankuro sent his puppet after him and smirked when Shino tried to dodge to the left, stopping Karasu in its tracks and pointed one off its arms at Shino who took a more defensive stance as the elbow join unhinged and a blast of gunpowder was emitted, from which a trail of rancid purple smoke emitted. Shino sent his bugs forward to intercept the projectile, watching as both his bugs and the projectile exploded in a cloud of purple smoke. Shino took a small breath of the gas in before he was able to jump up and out of the cloud, only to find the puppet zeroing in on him. Kankuro smirked at his assured victory and impaled Shino with both forearm blades only to see the Aburame once again burst into bugs. Scowling, Kankuro began looking around for any sign of the bug symbiont from his hiding place. He pulled his chakra strings to move Karasu off in another direction, but his puppet refused to respond. It was then that Kankuro noticed the swarm of bugs making their way down the chakra strings that were attached to his fingers. Smirking, he detached the chakra strings, sending the bugs flying as they chopped wildly through the air like whips and reattached them once the bugs were off. The Aburame was hanging upside down from the thick tree branch with the aid of his bugs. Kankuro called out to his opponent.

"If you think you can win by blocking the joints, think again."

Karasu's head detached and flew around behind the branch, opening its mouth to reveal a spike laced with poison to the point it was flying off the spike in waves as it homed in on Shino's head. The crowd held their breath as it homed in on Shino, may looking away, not wanting to see the ailed boy being killed so brutally. However, just as the spike got within 30 centimetres of his face, the head came to a sudden stop, showering Shino's face with poison before dropping lifelessly to the ground. Kankuro's eyes widened in surprise and confusion.

"What? What's going on?"

It was then that Kankuro felt a massive drop in his chakra levels and a mass of things crawling over his legs. He looked down to see an army of Shino's bugs swarming to him and starting to cover him. He tried to brush them off, but only succeeded in spreading them further. He looked up as he heard the Aburame hop from his hiding place onto the branch, sweating and panting heavily and glared at him in shock.

"When… How did you…"

Shino pointed weakly at Kankuro's forehead.

"When I attempted to engage in Taijutsu with you, I had no intention of doing so. I planted a female Kikai bug on your hitai-ate, allowing my bugs to track your position."

Kankuro looked up and did indeed notice a bug he had not seen before. It was placed so that it wouldn't be seen by him unless he was consciously searching for it and knew what to look for. He felt his chakra levels drop dangerously low and collapsed to his knees as his energy just vanished.

"How… From just this one…"

Shino was still panting as he answered.

"The one on your forehead is a female Kikai bug. The female emits a very faint smell that only the males of the same species are able to detect... Using that, I directed my bugs to swarm you. You cannot continue this fight."

True to Shino's word, Kankuro dropped off the branch screaming all the way to the ground where he hit with a loud thump. The bugs left a still slightly twitching Kankuro on the ground and returned to Shino, who also collapsed to his knees panting. Genma looked at both of them and then pointed to Shino.

"Kankuro is unable to continue. Winner, Shino."

The crowd burst into applause as Shino collapsed from the effects of the poison. Two pairs of medics rushed onto the field to check on both combatants. Both of them were quickly carted off the field and Genma looked up at the contestant box.

"Third match contestants, come down."

Both Bekkou and Neji walked down to the arena, standing facing each other. Neji smirked and activated his clan Doujutsu.

"Although you may have won against Hinata-Sama, your fate was sealed when I became your opponent."

Bekkou tilted his head to one side, looking at Neji quizzically.

"How so, if I may inquire?"

Neji smirked and got into his trademark Jyuken stance.

"Fate has decided that you will lose to me. Give up."

Bekkou said nothing, only bringing his head back up to a level position. Genma looked at both of them and nodded.

"Third match between Hyuuga Neji and Oto no Bekkou, begin."

Neji did not intend to give Bekkou the chance of getting into his defensive shell, so charged forward with blinding speed, aiming for Bekkou's heart. What Neji didn't expect however, was that Bekkou spun 180 degrees with blinding speed and pumped out his sound jets, knocking Neji off balance, giving him enough time to draw his arms, legs and head in and flip so that this time he landed on his back. Neji was dumbfounded that he would roll 'belly up' until he saw why. Several curved serrated blades ripped out of his clothing around his middle and he started firing only one side of his 'air jets', turning him into a spinning object of death. He was cutting the air fast enough for a whine to be heard, and that was when Bekkou shot forward along the ground, firing the jets that were closest to the opposite direction he was intending to travel with an amazing amount of precision, ripping the ground up as Neji just managed to dodge the spinning shield. Neji's face was a mask of pure concentration and astonishment.

'_What a guy… To be able to fire his air jets with such precision…If I even take a glancing blow from that, it's the end...'_

Even without the blades, a hit would be extremely damaging, if not fatal. The blades just ensured it was the later. However, Neji was not called the Tensai of the Hyuuga clan for nothing. He still had a few tricks up his sleave. All he needed was to stop the movement and rotation. He waited for Bekkou to take another pass and then started his own technique. Many Hyuuga in the crowd's eyes widened as they saw Neji begin to perform the Hyuuga main house's secret technique, spinning like a top as he released chakra from all of his Tenketsu. It was then that the two barriers collided, emitting a massive explosion, sending chunks of rock and dust everywhere, making many of the audience gasp and pull back in their seats as the stadium shook under the impact. Finally, the dust began to settle and they saw both Neji and Bekkou lying on the ground in a large crater, both heavily damaged. Neji was the first to get up, shaking and started wobbling towards Bekkou, who lay on his stomach, all of his appendages no longer drawn inside the protective shell. Neji stood just behind Bekkou, panting as he decided to rub his victory in.

"This is what happens when you try to defy fate. A shield is not meant to be used as a weapon, but as a defence. You were destined to-"

At that point, Neji heard a whistling sound coming from Bekkou as he was blasted with a large amount of chakra laced air, throwing him off his feet and tumbling backwards, landing on his back, shuddering in pain. Bekkou slowly stood up, panting as he turned around, walking slowly over to Neji, and staying a safe distance away from him.

"It is true that a shield is primarily used for defence, however, even a shield in the direst of circumstances can also be used as a weapon. Many objects can be used for purposes other than their intended reason for creation. That is what has become apparent in this match."

Genma smirked and pointed to Bekkou.

"Shousha; Bekkou."

Despite the fact that one of Konoha's biggest hopes had been defeated, even the Konoha people had to admit that the Oto Genin had used his head, and very well at that. It seems that he had all the qualities of a Chuunin. Not just power, but intelligent decision making skills as well. The Kazekage turned to the Hokage while the crowd was applauding.

"Oto seems to have many promising Genin…"

The Hokage nodded in agreement. Oto did indeed seem to have many promising up and coming Ninja, if the preliminary matches and these first few finals matches were anything to judge by. As the cheering died down, Genma looked up at the contestant box.

"Fourth match fighters come down."

Both Temari and Udo came down, facing off. Both of them had calculative looks on their faces. Genma looked at both of them and nodded slightly.

"Fourth match between Temari and Udo; Hajime."

Temari unstrapped her fan and snapped it open in one quick seamless motion as she released a large gust of air at Udo. The air blasted the stadium wall behind him, covering a fair portion of the arena in a cloud of dust. She whipped around when she felt him behind her and released another gust. She knew if she gave him time to get close and speak, it was over. What she didn't expect was that the wind blast went right through Udo making him fade out of existence.

"Bunshin! When did he-"

"Get time to make a Bunshin? Think about it."

Temari froze as she felt a kunai pressed to her neck and tried to figure out why his voice wasn't affecting her.

"Why isn't your voice…"

Udo smirked.

"In the prelims, I was unable to talk due to my inability to control my power. Now that I have it under full control, I can apply it as I see fit. Like this."

Temari froze as her ears rang with the last sentence Udo spoke and fell to the ground, holding her head from the worst case of vertigo she ever had.

"As for the Bunshin, with you blasting wind around, focusing more on stopping me from getting close based on what you saw in the prelims instead of thinking straight, that you didn't notice me creating the Bunshin and sending it to do my work for me. That was your downfall."

Genma nodded and pointed to Udo.

"Shousha; Udo."

The crowd cheered for the victor again, despite the fact that the battle was short. Temari was helped off the field by a pair of medics while Udo went straight back up to the contestant box. Just as Genma looked up to ask the next contestants to come down, the wind picked up, scattering leaves everywhere, which then condensed into a swirl in the middle of the field, dying down to reveal Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi back to back. Genma looked at Kakashi reproachfully.

"Mind getting off the field? Sasuke's match hasn't started yet."

Kakashi laughed nervously before nodding.

"Sure thing."

Kakashi nodded to Sasuke before flickering back up to the crowd while Sasuke walked up to the contestant box. Genma was about to ask the next contestants to come down when he sensed a rather large area Genjutsu in the crowd. Most others had stopped as well. His head snapped up to the Kage Box where a smoke grenade was let off which seemed to be a signal of some kind, as straight after that, all hell broke lose. Konoha was now at war.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**With Naruto and Gaara:**

Naruto had long ago placed several Kage Bunshins around Konoha for his part of the plan, and all of them saw the signal, grinning widely as they began their parts. The real Naruto who was next to Gaara smiled. It seems all of the Oto Nins had also noticed it. Naruto looked over his shoulder.

"That's the signal! Let's move!"

All the Ninjas set out in formation, led by Naruto and Gaara as they charged into Konoha. Just off to their left, the snake summoning ritual had been completed, sending three massive snakes towards Konoha. The two forces and three snakes rushed headlong into Konoha, jumping over the walls, or in the case of the snakes, barrelling straight through them. They instantly met with defenders, who were dispatched with little trouble. Naruto started giving out orders.

"First through 5th Squads! Take care of the eastern industrial sector of Konoha! 6th through 8th, take the inner east commercial sector while Squads 9 and 10 are with me! I want no survivors! Go!"

All 100 Shinobi responded to their orders, splitting up to their assigned areas. Gaara started handing out his orders.

"11th to 15th, take the outer West residential sector! 16th through 18th, take the inner western administration sector! 19th and 20th are with me! Give them no quarter! Go!"

The other hundred Sound Ninja responded to their orders, leaving only 40 to go with Naruto and Gaara. Both boys led the charge into Konoha, killing anyone, no matter their age or gender. Many people Naruto recognised as those who had tormented him, and took particular relish in torturing them slightly before having to move on. What really worried both Naruto and Gaara was that they hadn't encountered a single ninja since they had entered Konoha. Their concerns were alleviated when three squads of ANBU and 5 Jounins spotted them and moved to intercept. The Oto Nin came to a stop and prepared to fight, however, the Konoha Nin burst into laughter, pointing at Naruto and Gaara. One Jounin pointed at both kids and fell to his knees, howling with laughter.

"I don't believe this! We got so worked up over a couple of kids? HAHAHAHAHA!"

The Jounin and ANBU slowly stopped laughing as they heard the Oto Nin chuckling in the 'We know something you don't' way. One of the Oto Nin stepped forward, whose clothes signified he was a senior Jounin.

"Use your heads. If these 'kids' as you call them are leading an army of this size, doesn't that tell you something?"

Naruto smiled as did Gaara.

"Dealing with 12 ANBU and Five Jounin is going to take too long and waste far too many lives that can be used for other things. All Oto Ninja step back. We'll show these Konoha punks what these kids can really do."

The Oto Nins nodded and stepped back as both Naruto and Gaara started releasing their cursed seals, making the Jounin and ANBU tense.

"These… These are the brats who invaded Konoha and kidnapped the Akimitchi! And that's **the** Kyuubi brat!"

Naruto laughed joyously as the ANBU unsheathed their katana while the Jounin prepared their weapons of choice. The Oto Nin watched in fascination while all of Konoha paused in horror as they felt the Kyuubi's corrupting chakra wash over them. Naruto smiled ferally at Gaara.

"Let's just go straight to second stage. This isn't going to be fun."

Gaara nodded, grinning as they engaged their second staged Cursed Seals. The ANBU and Jounin stepped back as both of them underwent their transformations, both growing exponentially in size. Naruto looked down at the relatively tiny ninjas before him.

"**As you can see, the Akimitchi was put to good use. The Akimitchi clan jutsus were useful, especially their size increasing jutsu. Now, how about I let you enjoy the second coming of Kyuubi? And this time, you don't have that so-called Yondaime Hokage to save you!"**

Naruto slashed a hand through the buildings, trying to take out the Konoha Ninja as well. It seemed that all but one of the Jounin escaped unharmed. The last was not so lucky, being hit by a flying piece of roof that killed him on impact. Naruto and Gaara proceeded to reck havoc upon their section of Konoha, loving every second of it.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Back at the Stadium:**

The remaining members of the Sound Six had just put up the Four Man Purple Flame Array, sealing Orochimaru and the Hokage inside. However, there was another person inside, one of Naruto's Kage Bunshins. Currently, it was disguised as Kimimaro. Orochimaru now stood facing the Hokage with Naruto at his side. Orochimaru smirked, making the Hokage's eyes narrow.

"What's so funny, Orochimaru?"

Orochimaru chuckled as he revealed what he found so amusing.

"It seems that not even you could uphold Yondaime's wish, despite your position as the oh-so great Sandaime Hokage…"

That remark hit Sarutobi worse than any physical wound, making him look down at the ground in shame. However, Orochimaru wasn't quite finished yet.

"Although you failed him, it seems that a most unlikely person has not…"

Sarutobi's head shot up at this to see Orochimaru look at Kimimaro out of the corner of his eye.

"I think we should show everyone who you really are…"

Kimimaro nodded and dispelled the Henge to reveal one of Naruto's clones. Naruto smirked at Sarutobi.

"Been a while hasn't it, old timer?"

All Konoha people nearby stopped for a second and tried to figure it out when Sarutobi did it for them.

"Naruto? Is it really you?"

Naruto snorted with a bored look on his face.

"Believe it, it's me. God, this place is even more of a dump than when I left it… Seriously, how the hell do you raise Shinobi here?"

The Sandaime fell to his knees and put a hand to his eyes to wipe away the tears.

"Why, Naruto? Why did you leave?"

Naruto chuckled before answering.

"Because this shit hole never saw what I could become. I could have surpassed anyone and everyone. But you threw that chance away. Unlike some senile old fools, Orochimaru-Sama saw what I could become with a few choice words and steering in the right direction. Hell, if I stayed her, I would have probably turned into an idiot. By leaving, I met new people, made new friends, and saved other Jinchuriki from our torment. Seriously, considering we're the saviours of all living things on this planet, couldn't you at least have the decency to tolerate us? Then again, I suppose that's far too much to ask of most humans…"

Jiroubou looked at Naruto reproachfully.

"Naruto, you're starting to pick up Tayuya's swearing…."

Naruto snorted.

"Not surprising really."

Tayuya snorted at Naruto and continued maintaining the barrier. Naruto turned back to the Hokage and smiled.

"I would hang around longer, but I've got stuff to do, namely, torment some uptight Uchihas and finish off the job Kyuubi started. Later old man."

The clone dispelled itself, leaving a laughing Orochimaru and a chuckling group of Sound Elites as well as a completely distraught Hokage. Down in the arena, a second clone made itself known, looking straight at the Oto Genin who were thoroughly enjoying ripping the arena up and gave a complimentary whistle.

"Geez, I wouldn't be surprised if you became Chuunin. Good work. Try and make it back alive, ok?"

The ones who had a spare moment nodded and went back to engaging the Konoha Ninja. Naruto smirked and dispelled himself, before a third one made itself present, but this one was also using a Henge. During this carnage, Sasuke seemed somewhat hesitant as to what to do, concentrating on protecting only himself. Naruto took this chance and appeared before him, making Sasuke freeze as well as just about everyone around him.

"Hisashiburi dana, Otouto."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he recognised exactly who was standing in front of him.

"Uchiha Itachi… I'm going to kill you!"

Sasuke began charging a Chidori as the Naruto clone looked on impassively. One of the other Konoha Chuunin in the crowd took his chance and took a lunge at Itachi from behind, kunai held to stab him in the back of the neck. Naruto's clone didn't even pay him any attention as he used a fair amount of the chakra he had to blow the Chuunin away, straight into the railing where his back bent over it at an impossible angle, as a sickening snap was heard, the Chuunin falling to the ground where his neck broke, ending his life. Sasuke took this chance, thinking Itachi would still be occupied with the other attacker and charged at him, letting forth a deafening battle cry that was augmented by the Chidori's distinctive chirping. Naruto looked at him impassively and waited till the last moment to grab Sasuke's hand and deflect the Chidori into a concrete column to his right. Sasuke glared at the Naruto clone snapped his wrist, leaving Sasuke on the ground, screaming in pain. Naruto stood over him and recited a carefully prepared speech.

"Ichizoku... Ichizoku...

Souiu antara onore no "utsuwa" no ookisa wo hakari chigae

ore no "utsuwa" no fukasa wo shiranu kara ima soko ni haitsukubatteru.

Soshiki ni shuuchakushi ichizoku ni shuuchakushi na ni shuuchaku suru...

Sore wa onore wo seiyakushi onore no "utsuwa" wo kimetsukeru imubekikoto

soshite madaminu... Shiranu mono wo osorenikushimu

orokashikikoto!!"

Naruto leant down and ripped the Uchiha clan emblem off Sasuke's back, taking a kunai and pinning both to the wall.

"Ore no tsuwa wa kono kudaranu ichizoku ni zetubou shiteiru

Ichizoku nado to... chippoke na mono ni shuuchaku surukara

hontou ni taisetsu na mono wo miushinau...

hontou no henka to wa kisei ya seiyaku...

yokan ya souzou no waku ni osamarikitteite wa dekinai."

The Naruto clone turned around, completely disregarding how Sasuke was recovering for another go.

"I'm not interested in you, Sasuke. You're still weak. You're not even worth the time, foolish little brother. If you want to beat me, hate me, detest me and live in an unsightly way."

With that, the clone used up the last of it's chakra to body flicker away and dispel itself. It was then that everyone felt the real Naruto and Gaara's demonic chakra flare and turned towards the source to see the incarnation of Kyuubi and Shukaku that promptly began ripping up Konoha, laughing all the way.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Almost 30 Minutes Later:**

Naruto and Gaara had decimated a good portion of Konoha, and were now surrounded by the ANBU. Even with their size and power increases, they were no match for this many of them. Naruto then shivered violently as he felt a familiar yet foreign presence at the stadium. Naruto looked over there and saw what he feared most.

"**Shinigami… That old geezer is using Shikifuujin on Orochimaru-Sama!"**

Gaara looked over to see what Naruto was talking about and growled as he felt the sealing process complete and both Orochimaru's and the Hokage's faint chakra signatures vanish. Not 10 seconds later, the barrier dispelled. Naruto snarled and called out to all of the Oto Nins in Konoha.

"**First objective complete! Retreat!"**

Naruto and Gaara took one last swipe at the ANBU and Jounin, clearing at least 5 of them out before making their own retreat. The damage done to Konoha was extensive, to say the least. They could no longer claim to be one of the top five villages, if the piles of bodies and numerous burning buildings were anything to go by. Both Naruto and Gaara leapt over the walls and deactivated their cursed seals, unable to keep them going any longer. They were immediately surrounded by Oto Nins who took them while leaving several to hold off the pursuing Konoha Ninja until they were a safe distance away.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**2 Days Later, Otogakure no Sato:**

Upon arrival at the hidden village, Jiroubou, Kidoumaru, Sakon and Tayuya handed Orochimaru to Kabuto for medical treatment. Not long after, Naruto, Gaara and the mostly intact Oto army arrived. Seeing that Kabuto was busy trying to desperately help Orochimaru with his arms, Naruto was unofficially made temporary leader of Oto as the next highest in command. Naruto was flooded with requests for anything and everything, such as what sections of the army should be deployed where, who should scout, who received priority medical treatment and many others. With the help of his 5 closest friends, he managed to begin sorting out the after war problems when he was summoned along with the other members of the Sound Six to Orochimaru's throne room. He looked somewhat more composed than he had when they last saw him, but they could tell the mask he was using to hide the pain was wearing thin, and one wrong word would most likely mean their deaths.

"I want the six of you to go back to Konoha and retrieve Sasuke. Do not fail me."

They nodded and left immediately, racing back towards Konoha like their lives depended on it. Knowing Orochimaru, their lives probably did depend on the outcome of this mission.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** Oh man, FINALLY! Sorry about taking so long, but apart from the reasons at the start of this chapter, I realised that my first draft of this chapter had a **massive** plot hole in it. One that meant if I didn't fix it, the story would end here, no ending, no warning, just end. So I had to rewrite a large part of it. And before any of you ask me 'what was that speech? I don't speak Japanese!' Think about who Naruto was disguised as and what he did with the Uchiha Clan emblem from Sasuke's shirt, and take a stab in the dark. I'll give you a hint. It has to do with Sasuke's past. Well, I hope you guys enjoy.

Ja na,

Specula.


	6. This is mostly goodbye

**A/N:** Yo! This is an all A/N chapter, but this time, it's not going to be an intermission. This is just an updated version. I've pretty much given the reins of this story to ZenNoMai  
to continue, so if you want to continue reading, go check his one out. Short, I know, but I like to try and keep things like this to the point. I kmay continue the story some time, but for now there's no time frame.

That and when I reread what was here originally, I had to smack myself because of how... Emo I sounded... God damn...

Well, take care. Synica/Specula.


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